ROOKIES EIRENNE Lumasang and Sabrina Carpio showed great skill in their debut as the pair struck gold in the Philippine Taekwondo Association’s (PTA) 2020 Smart/MVP Sports Foundation Online National Taekwondo New Face of the Year Speed Kicking Championships on Sunday, September 27.
Ateneo’s Lumasang edged out her opponents in the senior female black belt category with a score of 7.133 while Carpio dominated the senior female red/brown belt category with a score of 5.825.
Despite the COVID-19 pandemic halting face-to-face amateur sporting events, Coach Elmer expressed his joy with the team’s excellent performance in this tournament. “We are glad that [the] Ateneo Taekwondo team is adapting [well to] this kind of new norm game, and [even] getting gold medals as well,” he said.
In an effort to adjust to the new normal for sporting competitions, the PTA shifted gears and doubled down their efforts on speed kicking tournaments to engage the taekwondo community. “The main purpose of this [speed kicking tournament] is to sustain [the] players’ burning desire through taekwondo, to train and stay strong inside their houses, and [to] boost their immune system,” explained Ateneo Taekwondo Team Head Coach Rafael Elmer.
The speed kicking tournament proved to be a feasible event as participants only need a video camera and internet connection to compete. For varsity teams, jins simply need to film a 60-second video of themselves performing a minimum of 70 kicks and six punches. The videos are then uploaded on YouTube.
As for the scoring, four juries are assigned to count and evaluate each jin’s performance. Following a scoring rubric of 60% performance and 40% technical, the four juries score the jin’s kicks depending on the quality and execution.
In October, the Ateneo Taekwondo Team is set to represent the Blue and White in the NCR National Speed Kicking Taekwondo Championships.
Eirenne Lumasang:
Sabrina Carpio:
Videos courtesy of Rafael Elmer
