Philippine Asian News Today Vol 19 No 18 | Page 28

SPORTS 28 PHILIPPINE ASIAN NEWS TODAY September 16 - 30, 2017 BC Taekwon-Do jins Compete at the Oval 2017 ITF of BC Pro- vincial Taekwon-do Champi- onships RICHMOND, BC – On September 23, 2017, ITF Taekwon-do practitioners from all over British Columbia will come to visit the beauti- ful lower mainland in order to participate at the 2017 ITF of BC Provincial Taekwon-Do Championships. This year’s event was held at the majestic Richmond Olympic Oval in Richmond, BC and is hosted by the Mr. Darius Andaya, 5th degree International Instruc- tor and Chief Instructor of DSA Taekwon-do, based in Burnaby. Taekwon-Do students from all ages and all level of skills vied for gold in various events such as Sparring, Pat- terns, Power and Specialty breaking. Especially exciting and heartwarming was the introduction of the Special Needs Division–a division specially designed for Tae- kwon-Do students with physi- cal and/or mental disabilities. This division was championed by Mr. Andaya to promote a fair playing field for athletes limited by their conditions, thereby following General Choi, founder of Taekwon- do’s philosophy of teaching anyone willing to learn. The day started with a presentation by Darryl, a Black Stripe belt showing his various Taekwon-do skills including Patterns, Applica- tions, Fundamental exercises and Powerbreaking. He also showed great flexibility by ending his demo with a full split. Darryl is a student with Special Needs, who after 9 years, is about to receive his Black Belt in Taekwon-do. “I still clearly recall another tournament you ran years ago which had special needs kids in the opening ceremony. I don’t remember the opening ceremonies of any other TKD tournament I’ve attended but I’ll always remember these two. I wish all TKD tournaments had opening ceremonies and themes which raised aware- ness and support for such good causes.” from a spec- tator email after the provin- cials. It was a very suc- cessful competition by all ac- counts judging by the praises received after the tournament. Mr. Andaya would like to thank all the sponsors ViaS- port, Bushido and Richmond Hosting, and most especially all the Umpires, Officials and other volunteers who provid- ed their services for the com- petition. These people came to the tournament expecting nothing in return yet provided everything they could for the sport we all love. DSA Taekwon-do, Mr. Andaya’s school is at 4600 Imperial St. in Burnaby. For inquiries or spon- sorship, please contact Mr. Andaya at dsataekwondo@ gmail.com or go to their web- site at Dsataekwondo.com. (Contact: Darius An- daya, 604-355-0372 , dsatae- [email protected]) Nonito Donaire Dominates Ruben Hernandez, Wins WBC Silver Returning for the first time since last November’s decision loss to Jessie Mag- daleno, four division world champion Nonito Donaire returned to the ring and won a one-sided ten round unani- mous decision over Ruben Garcia Hernandez (22-3-1). Donaire (38-4, 24 KOs) secured the win with scores of 100-90, 97-93, 99- 91 to earn the WBC silver featherweight title. The contest is the first for Donaire with new pro- moter Richard Schaefer of Ringstar Sports. The veteran boxer parted ways with long- time promoter Top Rank and now wants to focus on win- ning another world title. “I boxed very well, which is something I haven’t done in a long time. I moved my legs well and maintained it throughout the whole fight. “I’ve always been an aggressive boxer but this time i used my jab and combinations. I had the urge to just brawl and I felt like I hurt him. But ulti- mately I did a great job showing versa- tility in my game. “I’ll go look at this fight and see what I should have done to improve. It’s great to get the victory and get a great learning ex- perience under my belt. “It’s a great pleasure to be part of the Ringstar Sports family. I’m grateful for this opportunity and I know there is more to come. I’m going to get back in there and keep showing what I can do.” RUBEN GARCIA HER- NANDEZ “Nonito was very smooth and moved around well. I couldn’t get to him be- cause of that. He adjusted to everything I did. It was a fair decision at the end of the night. “I thought he was go- ing to come to brawl but he WWW.PHILIPPINEASIANNEWSTODAY.COM changed the strategy on me. I thought I fought hard and I’m going to work hard to get back in the ring.”(Boxingscene. com)