Poomsae team snags 2 silvers; fencers settle for silver in team categories

The Philippine taekwondo team delivered two silver medals in poomsae while the national fencing squad settled for two bronzes in the team category in the 31st Southeast Asian Games in Hanoi, Vietnam Monday, May 16.

Janna Dominique Oliva, Juvenile Faye Crisostomo, Justin Kobe Macario, Darius Venerable, and Jeordan Dominguez showed great camaraderie in the mixed freestyle event to garner 7.366 points at the Tay Ho Gymnasium.

Vietnamese jins, however, pulled away with 7.791 for the gold while Laos placed far third with 6.233.

The trio of Patrick King Perez, Raphael Enrico Mella, and Rodolfo Reyes Jr. fell short and ranked second with 7.732 for the silver in the men’s team recognized poomsae behind a small margin gained by Team Vietnam with 7.782.

Singapore and Indonesia, scored 7.349 and 7.466, respectively, but both were awarded bronze medals

The men’s poomsae team slipped from its golden performance in the 2019 SEA Games behind the efforts of Reyes and Mella brothers Raphael Enrico and Dustin Jacob.

In fencing action at the Hanoi Indoor Games Palace, the men’s sabre team clinched bronze after yielding early to eventual silver medalist Thailand, 46-29, in the semifinal.

The women’s epee counterpart suffered the same fate as it absorbed a 45-32 defeat against Singapore, which ruled the event for the gold against first runner-up Thailand.