By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
The prized taekwondo gym representing the City of Love again made waves in the First International Invitational Online Club Taekwondo Poomsae Championships.
Hosted by the AITA ATUL International Taekwondo Academy based in India, five brave jins from the Mark V. Pinggol Taekwondo gym made noise and managed to put Iloilo in a bright spot after garnering medals.
Cyd Edryc Esmaña, Joshua Cachero, Clyde Anthony Chua, Julianna Martha Uy, and Niesha Kariz Pequierda competed against the best taekwondo gyms in the world and represented not only Iloilo well but also the Philippines.
Esmaña clinched two gold medals from both the Regular and Elite rounds of the Cadet Blackbelt Category while Cachero impressed in the Under 30 Male Blackbelt Category, winning the gold in the regular round and managing third place in the Elite round.
On the other hand, Chua made his presence felt in the Cadet Male Blackbelt category by nabbing the gold medal in the Regular round and grabbing the silver medal in the Elite.
In the Female Cadet Blackbelt Category, Uy won two silver medals for both the Regular and Elite rounds and Pequierda garnered the silver clip in the Regular round and the bronze medal in the Elite.
Meanwhile, in the other tournament, another product of the MVP gym, Jilyn Rose Yap, flaunted her skills in the 2020 Smart/MVPSF Online National New Face of the Year Poomsae Championships.
Yap’s stellar outing in the said tourney helped her rank third in the Senior Women Black Belt Division I Taegeuk 7 and sixth in the final round of Taeback.
