Rodolfo Reyes Jr., Dustin Mella, and Raphael Mella have successfully defended their crown in the men's team event for the Philippines' third gold medal in poomsae. (Kristina Maralit)

The Philippines’ taekwondo jins kicked off their bid for a golden performance after dominating their respective categories in the poomsae competitions of the 2019 Southeast Asian Games taekwondo event at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.

The national taekwondo squad racked up four golds with the trio of Rodolfo Reyes Jr. and brothers Dustin and Raphael Mella highlighting the Pinoy jins’ golden romp — successfully defending their title in the men’s team event and making it a historic four-peat victory for the country in the said category.

Malaysia took home the silver medal, while Indonesia settled for bronze.

Prior to that win, Reyes and Jocel Lyn Ninobla started the Philippines’ campaign in the men’s and women’s individual poomsae events on a high note, with Reyes redeeming himself from a bronze medal finish in the individual recognized poomsae event in the Kuala Lumpur SEA Games staging.

Jocel Lyn Ninobla bags another gold for the Philippines, winning the women’s individual poomsae with a score of 8.433. (Kristina Maralit)

Taking the bronze medal are Myanmar’s Shine Sun and Malaysia’s Anak Grocer Augustine Rudy.

“The moment I saw and heard the crowd, I knew that was it. With every kick, I knew I had the edge. I’m just very happy that all the sacrifice of being away from my family and hard work paid off. This is for the country,” Reyes said.

The victory is doubly special as he dedicated it to his ailing mother who is currently bedridden after suffering a stroke two weeks ago.

Meantime, Ninobla frustrated another Thai for first place, narrowly beating beat Srisahakit Ornawee, while Vietnam’s Le Tran Kim Uyen and Putri Rachmania of Indonesia settled for bronze.

Jeordan Dominguez, on the other hand, romped off with the victory in the men’s freestyle individual event while Vietnam’s Nguyen Ngoc Mien Hy, Indonesia’s Saputra Wawan and Naing Phone Tet of Myanmar shared the bronze.

The jins’ second-place finishes, meanwhile, came at the Women’s Team, Mixed Pair, Freestyle Mixed Team, and Women’s Individual Freestyle.