Geisler bows out of 2007 WTF World Taekwondo Championship

Veteran Donald Geisler's torrid start in the 2007 WTF World Taekwondo Championship ended in a cold defeat against Chinese Taipei's Sung Yu-Chin at the Changping Gymnasium in Beijing, China. According to a WTF statement Sunday, Geisler succumbed in the quarterfinals against Sung who went on to win the lightweight gold two victories later. "I couldn't sustain the momentum," said the soft-spoken Geisler after his 1-7 loss to Sung, who two games later crushed Afghanistan’s N.A. Behavee, 5 to -1, in the finals. Geisler, a gold medalist in the 1998 Asian Games and a three-time Southeast Asian Games champion, himself looked like the old, fighting machine he was known for in the early stages. He clobbered Vitali Kolas of Belarus, 5-2, before whipping Libya’s Fathi Mohamad Gvwash, 11-7, to set up the quarterfinal showdown with Sung. SEA Games gold medalists Japoy Lizardo and Elaine Alora were not as lucky though, bowing to tough rivals right in their first games. Lizardo lost in a sudden death against Rodolfo Osnorio after dragging the Mexican to a 4-4 standoff in three rounds, while Alora, best known for knocking out her rival in the Manila SEA Games, bowed to German Pinar Budak, 3-8. "We still have 10 warriors to carry the fight," said delegation head Jesus "Jobet" Morales III. "I know everybody's raring to go for the gold." Plunging into Sunday's action are middleweight Criselda Roxas, flyweight Sugar Catalan, welterweight Michael Realista and flyweight Jeffrey Figueroa. The four are part of the 16-member national team backed by Smart, Petron and the Philippine Sports Commission. The Philippines has never come out empty-handed in these championships, but all it could show were a couple of silver and bronze medals in the past. Men's team coach Roberto Cruz had three silver medals in these championships in a streak that began in 1995 and ended in 1999 in Canada. A record number 976 athletes from 120 nations are fighting for the 16 golds at stake, making this edition the biggest ever taekwondo tournament in history. - GMANews.TV