Mangin, Barbosa fall short of more PH taekwondo golds in Asian Games

MANILA, Philippines – The Philippines missed out on two additional gold medals in the 2026 Asian Games in Nagoya, Japan, after taekwondo jins Tachiana Mangin and Kurt Barbosa settled for a pair of silvers on Friday, October 2. Barbosa and Mangin lost their respective title bouts at the Toyohashi Gymnasium as they fell short of delivering another gold in the sport after Jeus Gabriel Derick Yape ruled in the mixed individual virtual taekwondo earlier in the day. Mangin saw her superb run come to a disappointing end at the hands of China’s Ma Jingyue, who pulled off a 2-0 victory in the women’s -49kg finale. The two rounds each ended in a scoreless tie, but the Chinese won both by superiority to claim the gold medal.

Still, it was a promising campaign for Mangin as she won a medal on her Asian Games debut at just 18 years old. A former world junior champion and a Southeast Asian Games titlist, Mangin beat Kazakhstan’s Rita Bakisheva in the round of 16, Chinese Taipei’s Wang Chieh-ling in the quarterfinals, and Japan’s Ruka Okamoto in the semifinals to get a crack at the crown. Meanwhile, Barbosa absorbed a 16-14, 15-2 loss to Kazakhstan’s Tamirlan Tleules in the men’s -58kg final. After losing a nip-and-tuck opening frame, Barbosa sought to pull level in the second round, but Tleules landed two straight head kicks to seal his golden victory. Despite the defeat, the pride of Abra redeemed himself from his campaign in the 2023 edition in Hangzhou, China, where he lost his opening match in the round of 32. The Tokyo…