As some athletes realized the dream of getting a ticket to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, another name has been added to the roster in the person of the 9th Olympian Kurt Barbosa of the Philippine Taekwondo team.
Barbosa beat Jordanian bet Zaid Al-Halawani, 50-49 in the semi-finals match of the Minus-58-Kilogram event at the Asian Taekwondo Qualification Tournament in Amman, Jordan.
In an interview with PTV Sports, National Team Coach Carlos Padilla shared the first words of Barbosa a few seconds after he was declared winner in the match.
“Parang niyakap lang niya ako, parang sabi lang niya, ‘yong pinakauna talaga na naalala ko noong nasa court kami, ‘yong parang ‘we did it coach, we did it.’ Iyon lang ‘yong naaalala ko. ‘Yong parang umiiyak siya, niyayakap niya ako, ‘we did it, coach. Nakuha natin (We got it),’” Padilla recalled.
At that moment, Padilla could not explain what he felt over his ward’s victory.
“’Yong parang panaginip lang ba ‘to. Totoo pala ‘to. Parang ganoon ‘yong nararamdaman ko. ‘Yong parang ako bilang isang coach, dream mo rin maging Olympic coach. So, hindi mo ma-express kung gaano kasaya eh, parang walang katumbas. So, parang floating ‘yong nararamdaman ko para doon noong nakakuha kami ng ticket doon sa Olympics,” Padilla said.
Barbosa is currently under a 10-day quarantine in a hotel in Taguig together with the other members of the Philippine Taekwondo Team.
Afterwards, Barbosa will go to a bubble training camp in Calamba, Laguna to continue training until the campaign starts for the Tokyo Olympics in July. – Report by Paolo Salamatin/ JBB-rir
