TOKYO - After Nesthy Petecio opened the day for Filipino athletes in the Tokyo Olympics, Kurt Barbosa was the next to compete in the men -58kg category in taekwondo.
Barbosa was the heavy underdog going into the match as he was up against Jang Jun of Korea, the top seed of the division.
Jang quickly built a 4-0 lead in the opening minute of the match with a turning kick to Barbosa's body. He added another point off a right-handed punch to the body as well.
It was an overwhelming first round for the Korean as he led 12-1 with the only point for Barbosa coming off a penalty (gam-jeom) given to the Korean.
Jang started the second round exactly like how he started the first with a turning body kick followed by a punch to add to his lead, 17-1. Barbosa finally landed a pair of good body kicks in the second round that gave him four points but the offense from Jang was simply too much to handle as the Korean led 24-6 heading into the final round.
Another body kick at the start of the third round ended the match in favor of the Korean as he won via point gap (20 points).
After the loss, the hope for Barbosa was for Jang to make it all the way to the gold medal match as this will tow the Filipino jin to the repechage round for a possible bronze medal.
However, the number one ranked Korean was upset by Tunisia's Mohamed Khalil Jendoubi 25-19 in their semifinal battle. The surprising result also officially put an end to Barbosa's stint in the Tokyo Olympics.