Lightweight Criselda Roxas completed a medal shutout for the Philippines after succumbing to Chang Chueh of Chinese-Taipei, 5-9, in the second round of the 2009 World Taekwondo Championships held at the Ballerup Super Arena in Copenhagen, Denmark.

Roxas, a veteran of the Southeast Asian Games, actually started on a bright note with a 6-3 crushing of Venera Abdurazakova of Uzbekistan in the opening round.

The RP squad failed to duplicate its performance in the 2007 World Championships in Manchester, England where Olympian Tshomlee Go bagged a silver.

Besides Roxas and Go, who also got the boot in the second day of the tournament, other members of the team were olympians Mary Antoinette Rivero and Nicole Mapisilan, Jeffrey Figueroa, Alexander Briones, Jyra Marie Lizardo Kathleen Eunice Alora, John Paul Lizardo, Kirstie Alora and Karla Jane Alava.

Next stop for the RP jins is the 2009 Southeast Asian Games in Vientiane, Laos come December.

Emil C. Noguera