Taekwondo’s Jeffrey Figueroa made the Team RP proud by capturing a gold medal in the 1st Asian Martial Arts Games Tuesday at the Indoor Stadium Huamark in Bangkok.

Figueroa, 23, beat Afghanistan foe Rezai Hasann, 10-7, in men’s bantamweight final round to give Philippines its first Asian gold medal since Ali Atienza won a continental title in the ‘90s.

Marlon Avenido and Karla Jane Alava were also impressive as they won a silver and a bronze medal to put Team Philippines in the ninth spot of this 41-nation tourney with a total haul of one gold, two silver and two bronze medals behind leaders Korea, Kazakhstan and Japan.

Avenido bowed to Gyu Jin Lee of Korea, 2-5, to yield the gold medal in the men’s welterweight category while Alava lost to Iwen Kuan of Taipei, 0-1, to settle for the bronze medal in the women’s bantamweight category.

Camille Manalo wrapped up Team Philippines’ colorful campaign in taekwondo with a sorry 0-7 loss to a taller, stronger Hua Zhang of China in the quarterfinals of the women’s lightweight category.

Aside from Manalo, John Paul Lizardo (men’s finweight), Alex Briones (men’s heavyweight) and Crizobelle Vargas (women’s finweight) also bombed out right on their first matches.

But Figueroa’s golden finish was enough to offset their sluggish performance.

After frustrating Muaadh Najiahmed of Yemen, 7-3, in the quarterfinals, Figueroa escaped the bitter challenge thrown by hometown bet and 2007 Southeast Asian Games gold medalist Nattapong Tewawetchapong, 3-2, to book a championship showdown with the shadowy Afghan jin.

The victorious taekwondo team will arrive today to prepare for their three-week training in Korea on Sunday.*

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