By Aimerose C. Atienza

Far Eastern University’s (FEU) Jin Nick Lemuel Pascua and Lady Jin Regina Abello both clinched a silver podium finish in the 2021 Smart/Manny V. Pangilinan Sports Foundation (MVPSF) Online National Carlos Palanca Jr. Speed Kicking and Poomsae Championships last August 29. 

The competition was conducted with the participants’ pre-recorded performance videos that were sent to the Philippine Taekwondo Association (PTA). The performances were shown through the PTA Stream Taekwondo site.

In this online tourney, only black belters in the country were eligible to participate.

Abello fell short behind gold medalist Gianne Ria Chiong of the University of Santo Tomas (UST) in the Senior Female Black Welter category. Bronze medalists Junlyn Agang and Charisse Ragutana also came from UST.

The Lady Jin told FEU Advocate that the keys to her success were focusing on training routines and properly executing the techniques and combinations. 

“I really trained very hard every day for this game. Early morning training and afternoon training really helped me to get a good result,” she shared.

Meanwhile, Pascua participated in the Senior Male Black Feather event and brought home the silver medal. Adriano Horlador III of Iloilo A. Diasnes Gym won the gold medal while Andrew Medina of UST and Michael Boncales of Arellano University (AU) tied for the bronze award. 

The FEU Jin recently suffered a hamstring injury after the Asian Online Open Taekwondo Championship last July, but he shared the experience in joining virtual tournaments that helped him win for the green-and-gold community.

“Siyempre, napakasaya na makatanggap ng medalya para sa FEU dahil isa ito sa mga kapalit sa mga benepisyo na natatanggap ko mula dito at pride ko na rin bilang isang Tamaraw (Of course, I am really happy to receive a medal for FEU in return for the benefits I get from the school, and this is my pride as a Tamaraw),” he said.

With the ongoing coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic in the country, PTA continues to host various Taekwondo competitions virtually as announced on their official Facebook page.

(Photo courtesy of Regina Abello and Nick Lemuel Pascua)