Jocel Ninobla still remains the queen of the mats.
The University of Santo Tomas product amassed a combined score of 7.765 on her two forms to secure her second straight Southeast Asian Games title in the women’s individual recognized poomsae at the start of the event’s taekwondo competitions, Monday at the Tay Ho Gymnasium in Hanoi, Vietnam.
Ninobla was way ahead of Vietnam’s Le Tran Kim Uyen who ended with the silver with 7.649, while the 2018 Jakarta Asian Games champion Defia Rosmaniar of Indonesia and Orwanee Srisahakit of Thailand ended with the bronzes with 7.549 and 7.482, respectively.
It was a welcome gold for the national squad as erstwhile four-time champions, the men’s recognized poomsae team ceded the title this afternoon.
Rico Mella, Junior Reyes, and Patrick King finished with the silver this year with 7.732, just 0.051 away from a fifth straight SEA Games crown. Vietnam’s Tran Ho Duy, Nguyen Dinh Khoi, and Nguyen Thien Pung snagged the gold with 7.782.
Reyes could also not defend his 2019 men’s individual event title as he opted to skip the event in these Games. The Philippines also chose to not participate in the women’s team.
The mixed freestyle team rounded up the first day for our national jins after bagging the silver once again in the event.
Nikki Oliva, Juvenile Crisostomo, Kobe Macario, Darius Venerable, and Jeordan Dominguez ended with 7.366 for the second-place finish, behind the dominant 7.791 performance from Vietnam.
Laos took the bronze in the three-team field with 6.233.
