Bacolod jin Carlos Padilla V of the Negros Taekwondo Union knocked down two of his four opponents en route to the flyweight gold in the Carlos Palanca National Taekwondo Championships at the Rizal Coliseum recently.

Padilla capped his stirring campaign with a 3-1 victory over Joerey Jurisprudence of University of Sto. Tomas in the finals. The victory was a fitting follow-up to his impressive win over opponents from FEU and Cebu City, whom he dropped using his vaunted axe kicks.

An alumnus of Colegio de San Agustin-Bacolod, Padilla, a 2006 Taekwondo World Cup quarterfinalist, also beat an opponent from Rizal, 3-0, in the tournament that serves as one of the qualifying events for the national team.

Padilla is expected to be joined by NTU teammates Crystal Pauline Reyes, Rubylyn Mapa and Andy Perdeguerros in the final selection tournament for the Philippine Team.

NTU coach JimJim Chua said the winners in the selection tournament will be tapped to represent the country in the Olympic qualifiers in September.

Chua said Mapa is among the frontrunners for a slot in the RP Team. Reyes, meanwhile, would have to contend with Southeast Asian Games gold medalist and Doha Asian Games campaigner Eunice Alora, who is currently the country's top jin in the finweight class.

Perdeguerros, for his part, will be among the challengers to the throne of commercial model-athlete Japoy Lizardo, who fought as a finweight in the 2005 SEA Games and the Doha Asiad.

Chua appealed for financial support to defray the expenses that will be incurred when his players bid for slots in the national team. *CPT

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