PH poomsae bets bag gold medals in experimental event

The Philippines bagged three gold medals in the First Online Daedo Open European Poomsae Championships, an experimental event meant to test workarounds on the restrictions imposed by the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic.

National team stalwart Jocel Lyn Ninobla beat a field of 110 jins in the premier female under-30 to lead the Filipino winners in the meet based in the Netherlands. Her father, June, captured the gold in male under-60, besting 33 other participants, while Ernesto Guzman Jr. dominated the male under-40 category.

There were more than 1,200 jins who took part in the meet held from May 4 to 10. It required the players to send videos that were judged in real time by an online panel.

World poomsae champ Rani Ortega was head coach for the national team.

"Players needed to send three sets of videos for preliminary, semis and finals," said Igor Mella, a national coach who was part of the 30-strong international referees who officiated the meet. The videos, he said, must meet certain specifications set by the organizers.

"There are some players who took their videos atop a plateau, others in some rooftop overlooking an Italian village," Mella said. "Certain angles of the camera is allowed, but the important thing is the players must be inside the frame all the time."

Ninobla, a gold winner in the recent Southeast Asian Games, and her dad took their videos from inside their home in Las Piñas City.