Taekwondo athletes from Baguio City and Benguet won three gold, three silver, and eight bronze medals in the 2022 Chuncheon Korea Open International Taekwondo Championships in South Korea recently.
The taekwondo athletes from the Samahang Taekwondo ng Pilipinas, Inc. (STP) under president and coach Danrey Velo saw action in kyorugi and poomsae categories of the event that drew top athletes from different countries.
Bemedalled athlete Khyla Kreanzzel Guinto led the medalist by winning a gold in poomsae and silver in kyorugi. The young athlete has been representing the Cordillera in previous national and international competitions.
Ioness Panganiban also won gold in poomsae while Wayne Eusebio clinched gold in kyorugi.
Xedric James Faroden also added silver in kyorugi while the third silver from poomsae was courtesy of Xian Craig Eusebio.
Liam David Tacio and Bona Stella Rivera led the bronze medalists by winning both in poomsae and kyorugi.
The other bronze medalists in poomsae were Elcanor Mang-usan, Jr. and Shaun Devyn Masaway while the bronze medalist in kyorugi were Josh Daniel Tacio and Alice Rhema Mana-a.
The international tournament has been running for about 20 years now and is an official event included in the World Taekwondo 2022 calendar and recognized under the Asian Taekwondo Union Organization. Around 2, 500 athletes from all over the world participated in this yearly event and out of the total parti-cipants, 11 were from Baguio City under the STP. – Harley F. Palangchao
