JPE nat’l age group tournament kicks off
HARD-HITTING taekwondo action takes center stage when the2026 SMART/MVP Sports Foundation JPE National Age Group Taekwondo Championships kick off this weekend.
PTA PHOTO
Coming off a breakthrough showing at the 20th Asian Games in Nagoya, the Philippine Taekwondo Association (PTA) will stage the 2026 SMART/MVP Sports Foundation JPE National Age Group Taekwondo Championships starting this weekend at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
Fully supported by the Philippine Sports Commission (PSC), the Philippine Olympic Committee (POC), and MILO, the two-weekend tournament will feature kyorugi (free sparring) on 7 and 8 November and poomsae (forms) on 15 November.
Named in honor of the association’s first president, the late Senator Juan Ponce Enrile, the event aims to discover promising athletes who will carry the country’s flag in major international competition and replicate the golden performance of poomsae ace Jeus Gabriel Yape in the continental showpiece.
Overall, the association, under able leadership of Grandmaster Hong, also won three silver medals courtesy of Tachiana Mangin, Kurt Barbosa, and Juliana Candelearia, alongside the bronze also produced by Yape.
The kyorugi competition will feature divisions for Junior, Cadet, Grade School and Toddler for male and female competitors. Each category will include Novice and Advance divisions.
The poomsae competition will include recognized poomsae and freestyle poomsae and they will be divided into four categories for both male and female participants. The age brackets are defined as follow: junior is for under 17, cadet for under 14, grade school for 9 to 11 years old, and toddler for eight years and below.
Grandmaster Hong added that they are expecting 1,500 combatants in kyorugi and another 1,000 in Poomsae from all affiliated chapters and branches nationwide.
The event, according to Grandmaster Hong, mirrors the association’s strong commitment to sports development, particularly its mission to strengthen grassroots programs in alignment with national sports initiatives.
The opening ceremony will be held on 8 November at 1 p.m. at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium with a performance from the Philippine Demonstration Team. Competitions will begin at 9 a.m.