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Isabella Del Rosario. Dyan Castillejo, ABS-CBN News.

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Dyan Castillejo

ABS-CBN News

<figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments" id="isPasted"><img src="https://od2-image-api.abs-cbn.com/prod/editorImage/1708261461279.png" alt="Isabella Del Rosario. Dyan Castillejo, ABS-CBN News." class="fr-fil fr-dib"/><figcaption>Isabella Del Rosario. Dyan Castillejo, ABS-CBN News.</figcaption></figure>  MANILA -- At 15 yrs of age, Isabella Del Rosario, the daughter of Philippine taekwondo legend Monsour del Rosario, is now the WNCAA featherweight taekwondo champion.   Representing De La Salle Zobel in the secondary division, Isabella scored a dramatic last second point with a kick in the 3rd and deciding round to steal the victory and was crowned champion.   Dad Monsour ran into the mat and carried his daughter in jubilation. Just a week later, Isabella scored another big win against the best public school black belt fighter of Muntinlupa, thus earning the chance to represent the city at the NCR Palarong Pambansa meet late this month.  <ul><li><a data-cke-saved-href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/05/12/23/seag-taekwondo-team-bags-5-medals-including-2-golds" href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/05/12/23/seag-taekwondo-team-bags-5-medals-including-2-golds">SEA Games: Taekwondo team bags 5 medals, including 2 golds</a></li></ul> Monsour, a Southeast Asian Games gold medalist in taekwondo, says he is &quot;super proud&quot; to see his daughter progress so quickly in the sport.&quot;I didn&#x27;t actually expect that she would tell me one day that she wanted to be a varsity team fighter and that she wanted to fight in the ring,&quot; he said. &quot;I kept saying, &#x27;You&#x27;re so pretty, something might happen to your face. Why don&#x27;t you just learn to fight, but don&#x27;t fight in the ring?&#x27;&quot;He suggested badminton or golf to his daughter, stressing that combat sports are &quot;dangerous.&quot;&quot;But she said, &#x27;Dad, when you were young, you did the same thing&#x27;,&quot; said Monsour.Her last two wins have convinced Isabella that she made the right decision in wanting to get into taekwondo.&quot;After the pandemic, I didn&#x27;t have any extracurriculars,&quot; Isabella said. &quot;I was like, okay, I&#x27;ll join taekwondo tournaments, since I&#x27;m already a brown belt.&quot;&quot;Winning reaffirms that I made the right decision,&quot; she added.Monsour has been extremely supportive of his daughter, as he supervises her training and brings her around the country to spar with better fighters. He is also always in Isabella&#x27;s corner, providing words of wisdom -- something that came handy in the WNCAA finals when she lost the first round and fell behind, 2-6, in the second.&quot;I was screaming at her because she lost the first round and I could see she was a little afraid of her opponent and was hesitating,&quot; Monsour recalled. &quot;I told her, this is what we have prepared for 1 year. You have to fight. You can beat this girl. You fought different fighters in tournaments and you’ve beaten some of them.&quot;&quot;I know you&#x27;re scared, but you have to fight,&quot; he added. <div><ivs-player data-ivs-key="e8c22c015ca9eafa76f1e3edfa03c603" data-ivs-spid="3001339" data-ivs-vid="2963946"></ivs-player> <script src="https://player.ivideosmart.com/ivsplayer/v4/dist/js/loader.js"></script></div>&quot;It&#x27;s definitely an advantage to have my dad. In the car ride to the competition, he would be like, do this, do that ... The day before, he tells me to review the video of the past fight, and we analyze it,&quot; Isabella said. Isabella&#x27;s clutch win in the WNCAA Finals brought great joy to her parents, with mom Joy saying that she was &quot;so nervous.&quot;   &quot;Her coach lost the call card so he couldn&#x27;t even contest any moves . She had to do it all by herself,&quot; said Joy.   Isabella’s parents are extra proud of her recent achievements as she has had to pursue taekwondo with many challenges. She trains hours after her school, does extra training on weekends with different coaches, studies hard to achieve her top 10 rank in her level - all of this done while having to wear a back brace for 16 to 20 hours a day because of scoliosis.   &quot;She has to wear an activity suit when she trains and has to wear a hard brace during the day and when she is not training. Even when she sleeps she has to wear it and she manages to win,&quot; said Monsour.<ul><li><a data-cke-saved-href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/01/28/24/taekwondo-event-in-qc-aims-grassroots-improvement" href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/01/28/24/taekwondo-event-in-qc-aims-grassroots-improvement">Taekwondo event in QC aims grassroots improvement</a></li></ul> &quot;I’m used to it . It doesn’t really hurt, sometimes it does,&quot; said Isabella when asked how difficult it is to have to put on and off the brace throughout the day and night while being in competitive sports. Right now, Isabella just smiles when asked if representing the Philippines in the SEA Games or Asian Games, World Championships or Olympics&#x27; is something she would like to pursue.Her dad has represented the Philippines at the international level, but Monsour says it will be &quot;one tournament at a time&quot; for his daughter.&quot;We can&#x27;t aim for the Olympics without winning tournaments before,&quot; he pointed out. &quot;You have to go through the process.&quot;   &quot;More experiences, better techniques, more tournaments , see where you gauge. I keep telling her when you enter tournaments learn about the sport but at the same time learn about yourself, you can know how far you can take yourself. The important part is the development in her character,&quot; he added.&quot;Hopefully one day, maybe I&#x27;ll see her represent the country. I&#x27;m just happy she has good grades, a good student, a great athlete and a pretty one at that and is a PWD.&quot;

Isabella Del Rosario, the daughter of Philippine taekwondo legend Monsour del Rosario, is now the WNCAA featherweight taekwondo champion.

Isabella Del Rosario, the daughter of Philippine taekwondo legend Monsour del Rosario, is now the WNCAA featherweight taekwondo champion.

Isabella del Rosario carving her own path in taekwondo

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Isabella del Rosario carving her own path in taekwondo

Dyan Castillejo,

ABS-CBN News

Published Feb 18, 2024 09:20 PM PHT

Read More:

Isabella del Rosario

Taekwondo

De La Salle Zobel

WNCAA

Monsour del Rosario

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