 BEIJING – Tshomlee Go starts his chase for the ultimate prize in the sport he loves when he steps on the Olympic stage against the toughest and fiercest from four continents in the Beijing Olympics taekwondo competitions today at the Beijing University of Science and Technology.
The stakes will be high, and so is the pressure, for the 27-year-old two-time Olympian who sets out to win the Philippines’ first medal after two weeks of frustration by the 15-member RP contingent and eight years of failed bids since the 2000 Games in Sydney.
Go was a member of the 2004 contingent that went home without a medal from Athens and he knows the time to produce one is now.
“I am in good shape. I am physically and mentally prepared for this bout. I will give it my best shot for our fellow Filipinos and I know they will pray for me,” said Go.
The hunt begins at 11 a.m. when he takes to the mat against 22-year-old Australian Ryan Carneli in the first round of the flyweight (-58 kg) division of this sport, a “Korean karate” formed from Korean and Chinese styles in 1915.
If he wins, he advances to the quarterfinals at 12 noon. Another win brings him to the semifinals at 5:30 p.m.
The repechage, or losers’ bracket, will be held at 6:30 p.m., where the semifinal losers fight the winners from the previous round of the repechage for the two bronze medals at stake.
The repechage will be limited only to the players who lost to the eventual finalists in the round of 16, quarterfinal and semifinal.
Thus, if Go loses to the Australian, he will wait until 6 p.m. to know whether Carneli has entered the final. If not, Go is out of the medal round.
Each bout will be fought in three rounds at two minutes per round.
A semifinal win brings Go to the final round at 8:15 p.m. By 8:20 p.m. the winner of the gold or silver will be known.
In the taekwondo scoring system, one point is awarded for every clean, strong hand blow or kick to the body. If he knocks down the opponent, the penalty is a standing 8-count.
Two points are awarded for a kick to the head. A punch to the head is disallowed and penalized.
An incentive of P15 million from Malacañang and private sponsors is at stake for a gold medal. Petron itself, the major supporter of taekwondo in the Philippines, has pledged P1 million for a gold, P600,000 for a silver and P300,000 for a bronze and chipped in P50,000 for the participation of Go and Toni Rivero in the Olympics.
Other sponsors are Mikee Romero of Harbour Centre, billionaire Lucio Tan, boxer Manny Pacuiao, Microsoft, No Fear and the Philippine Sportswriters Association.
Coach Raul Samson, however, said, these incentives will be off their minds as they concentrate on the important task at hand.
“Of course, it is a big factor but we are here to make history. When they win a medal they’re part of history. That’s the only thing we want to achieve,” he said.
First Gentleman Mike Arroyo and taekwondo president Robert Aventajado flew in yesterday to lead the country in cheering for Go and Rivero, who sees action in the women’s welterweight (-67kg) division Friday.
Go, who has been with the national team for seven years and a practitioner since the age of 7, says he’ll want nothing but the Olympic gold, the ultimate reward for years of sacrifice, sustaining injuries while training here and abroad away from family and friends.
However, between him and the medal – a gold, silver or bronze – are 15 other contenders who topped continental qualifying tournaments in Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas last year. Go comes in as one of three qualifiers from the toughest qualifier, the 2007 Olympic qualifying tournament in Manchester, England, making him one of the top favorites in the 16-man field
But national coaches Kim Hung Sik and Samson are quick to say that all 16 participants have reached world-class level and the medal hunt could be anybody’s game.
Kim said even Korea, where the sport originated, no longer holds monopoly of the medals since it dominated the sport in the last 20 years.
“In the past, Korea was way above, but now the rest of the world is catching up,” said Hung. “The competitions should be very exciting.”
All of the Olympic participants have, at one time or another trained in Korea under Korean coaches and most have been into the sport before the age of 10.
No Korean will be in the flyweight class (-58kg) where Go is competing, but the man to beat in the division will be Taiwanese Chu Mu Yen, an expert in taichi who considers taekwondo as a religion.
He won the gold in Athens, got another won in last year’s world championships and this year’s ASian Championships and, before the Games, spent time in a mountainside Buddhist monastery in Taiwan to go into deep concentration and cleanse his soul for another crown.
If Go and Chu will ever meet, it will be in the finals since they are in opposite brackets.
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