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The Philippines secured another bronze medal in the 2018 Asian Games after Pauline Lopez reached the semifinals of the women's minus-57 kg division in the taekwondo competition in Jakarta, Indonesia on Tuesday. Lopez, however, lost the match to Luo Zongshi of China with a final score of 11-4. The 21-year-old Lopez only trailed by by two at the end of the first two round, 4-2. But Luo used her height to her advantage in the final round, keeping the Filipino jin at bay while connecting on kicks to score the win. "I'm used to fighting people that are taller, that wasn't really a big deal [since] my reach is really long. I was just really tired this time around. It really hurts," Lopez told ESPN5. "It's definitely an honor just being here, but right now it just really hurts, I could've been in the finals." The country now has four medals overall, all of which are bronze. Lopez turned heads in the taekwondo competition after dominating her opponents en route to the semifinals. In the Round of 16, she beat Xiao Feng of Macau, 8-0, before blanking Nepal's Gyani Chunara, 20-0, in the quarterfinal round. Lopez won a bronze medal in the 2017 Southeast Asian Games (SEA) and struck gold in the 2015 SEA Games.
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