As the excited Mommy, Cynthia, pored over the SMS on her cell phone that afternoon, the first word read “Whoaaa!”, and her eyes suddenly lit with that knowing gleam and glint of welling pride. Ten year old Chester Jeith J. Abanador  of the St. Thomas School of Learning  won a Gold medal in the recently-concluded two-day Petron/SMART National Age Group Taekwondo Championships held at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium in Manila from October 11-12, 2008. A member of the very competitive Sariaya Superfoot Gym Taekwondo Team headed by Coach Jeffrey V. Baranda, ten year old “CJ” bested other contenders to emerge as the cream of the crop in his division.

“CJ” was the only Yellow Belt among their team to be included in the Group 3-Boys Division, winning three consecutive games at 1 pm, 3 pm and 5 pm on Friday, October 11,  the first day of competitions. He won them all by wide margins, one of them via an automatic stoppage ruling. On the second day, October 12, he won the semi finals by a maximum point margin before facing his greatest challenge, a Blue Belt finalist from Valenzuela City. Unfazed, he won over his much seasoned opponent, was adjudged the champion in his category, and therefore worthy of the much coveted gold medal.

His equally competitive team mates Jordan Magboo and Marielle Ranas each won a silver medal in the said prestigious Korean martial arts tournament. Jordan, of Barangay Concepcion is a Blue Belt thirteen year old first year high school student of Enverga  Candelaria, and  was the only local jin in the Group 4-Boys division. He won his first fight and was awarded the bye on the first day but lost in the finals the second day and thus settled for the Silver. Marielle, of Versatile Subdivision, an eleven year-old  grade six student of the Sariaya East Elementary School was an entry in the Group 3-Girls Division. Overcoming two heavily-fought matches on the first day, she won the semifinals the following morning but lost to an equally excellent fighter from Manila in the afternoon that earned her another Silver Medal for the team. Meanwhile, eleven year old Blue Belt Gem Yvette G. Javierto  of Marichi Subdivision and a student of St. Joseph’s Academy played in the Group 5-Girls Division. She won her initial match on the opening day but lost to a much taller opponent in the quarter finals thus settling for the fifth place.

The other members of the team were ten year old Blue Belt Jade Magboo of Barangay Concepcion, a Grade four student of Concepcion Elementary School; ten year old Blue Belt Marco Jake Camposagrado of Barangay Bucal, a grade five student of St. Joseph’s Academy; and ten year old White Belt Renzo Heli of Barangay Concepcion, a Grade four student of Concepcion Elementary School. They were all equally competitive and energetic as their team mates but it was not their day to win. Renzo never had the chance to compete because of a ruling that White Belters are not allowed  to compete at the  national level, while Jade and Marco lost their bouts to stronger opponents.

The youngsters were among the one thousand two hundred boys and girls aged 5 to 16 from all over the country who competed in the junior and grade school levels. According to  the press release from the Manila Times, a 50-member Korean Demo Team from the Chongroku Taekwondo Association led by Lee Ko Bom staged a special exhibition number at the opening ceremonies, that dazzled local taekwondo enthusiasts with their precision and skills. Stressing that the two-day tournament is an important part of the Philippine Tae Kwon Do Association’s nationwide grassroots program, the organizing committee chairperson Sung Chon Hong said that they start prospective athletes young. Accordingly, PTA President Robert Aventajado  said that the performance of the top notch Koreans would be a good learning opportunity for the young Filipino athletes.

Whatever, it was a time to take pride in competing for your beloved hometown, a chance to put into practice what one learned through sheer hard work with all the tenets of taekwondo in mind….. self confidence, modesty, indomitable spirit, perseverance and etiquette worthy of a very noble and truly wonderful; sport. Arya Sariaya!