By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
Despite not making it to the first Online Daedo Open European Poomsae Championships final round, the pride of Iloilo, Angelie Marie B. Perillo, ranked 39th overall out of the 60 top Cadet Black Belt Females finalists from all over the world.
Shaped under the Alan Diasnes gym and mentored by Philippine Team National Poomsae training pool member coach Flora Navales, Perillo cruised through the preliminary rounds, landing at the 14th spot in Group D to punch her ticket to the semifinals.
“This also gives us room for improvement which will both help us grow, me as a coach and her as an athlete. This online competition is a new norm which needs a new kind of game play and mindset. The experience she gained here is priceless and will help her in future competitions,” said coach Navales in an exclusive interview with the Daily Guardian.
Out of the 118 prized Cadets, 60 of them were able to make the cut and qualify for the semifinals but eight were only chosen to go through another Poomsae exhibition to determine the champion.
Perillo scored an average of 6.145, tied with Finland’s Airada Heikkinen while the top scorer from USA clinched 7.520.
“I also want to take this opportunity to thank Grand Master Hong the father of Philippine Taekwondo Association, my fellow PTA instructors, athletes, A. Diasnes Gym family and Angelie’s parents for support. This is success is through teamwork. One mind!” added coach Navales.
