to be known as jin action begins today

NAKHON RATCHASIMA—It’s the turn of the taekwondo jins to shoot for golds Wednesday and eyes are on Marie Antoinette Rivero who is eyeing a third straight mint in these 24th edition of the Southeast Asian Games.

                And despite feeling some pain and spasms in her legs, Rivero, who has qualified for the 2008 Beijing Olympics, feels she is in her peak for another gold medal.

               “Medyo nagkaroon ng spasms. But the left leg is okay pero the right still hurts slightly,” said Rivero. She hurt her leg during the Asian Olympics qualifiers in Ho Chi Minh City only last November 30.

                Eight men and as many women are on the RP taekwondo team which arrived Monday, two days before competitions kick off at the Vonchavalikuth Hall.

                Rivero won her first SEA Games gold medal when she was only 14 in Vietnam in 2003 and in the minus 59-kg category. In 2005, she fought in the minus 64 kgs and clinched her second gold in the Philippines.

                Rivero will be contending with practically the same opponents she met in the previous Games. “Ang problema iyung mga dati kong kalaban sa dating weight class, umangat na rin,” said Rivero who is bracing for a tough stand by the Thais.

                Catherine Bunyi (+72 kgs) and Criselda Roxas(-67 kgs), a 2005 SEA Games silver medalist, are also competing Wednesday in the women’s contest.

                In the men’s, Michael Alejandrino will vie in the heavyweight (+84 kgs) division, Alex Briones, also a Manila silver medalist, in the middleweight (-84 kgs) and Ernesto Mendoza in the welterweight (-87 kgs).

                The Filipinos are the traditional rulers of SEA Games taekwondo. They won six gold, five silver and one bronze medals in 2005.

Victory Ride    

NAKHON RATCHASIMA—Save for the coaching staff and the rest of Team Cycling Philippines, no one saw it coming, officials of the Philippine delegation included.

Whether taekwondo still RP bailiwick to be known as jin action begins today

NAKHON RATCHASIMA—It’s the turn of the taekwondo jins to shoot for golds Wednesday and eyes are on Marie Antoinette Rivero who is eyeing a third straight mint in these 24th edition of the Southeast Asian Games.

NAKHON RATCHASIMA— Malaysia would hardly matter but just the same, the Philippine men’s basketball team is not taking any chances.

NAKHON RATCHASIMA—The Filipino paddlers are living up to expectations and are competing as favorites for the gold medal in dragon boat’s (traditional boat race) men’s 1,000 meters Tuesday.

SEAG Secretariat head Mundo trip to Kuwait with PSC blessing

Philippine Sports Commissioner Joey Mundo should attend to his responsibilities as head of Team Philippines Secretariat but instead he is in Kuwait on an “unspecified” official trip.

Lady golfers ahead; men fall to fourth

Mark Fernando rebounded from a lackluster first round but all others failed to produce the needed numbers that forced defending champion Philippines to skid down to fourth place and trail host Thailand by seven strokes halfway through the men’s golf competition in the SEA Games on Tuesday.

Work out with Manny, receive $1,000

MANNY Pacquiao better be ready once he starts his sparring sessions in preparation for his next fight.

In an interview with Sports Radio yesterday morning, American trainer Freddie Roach said he is now on the look out for a few but quality sparring partners for his prized ward.

Greenside Chip: Did Southwoods make the wrong call?      

FOR the fourth straight year, Manila Southwoods had a disappointing windup in another runner-up honor in the Fil championship division of the recent 58th edition of the Fil-Am Golf Invitational played in Baguio City. But despite the piling up of second-place finishes, the Cavite-based squad still created more noise than the overall champion Club Marinduque.