MANILA, Philippines — The country’s London Games medal bid suffered an almost irreparable setback over the weekend when our best taekwondo bets were eliminated in the Asian qualifying tournament in Bangkok, ending a run of three straight Olympics where jins competed as the nation’s best medal hopes.

SEA Games gold winner John Paul Lizardo had the best chance of extending the run when he reached the quarterfinals, but he failed to survive his rival that could have earned him a semifinal seat.

And even if he did, he must still beat his opponent in the semis as only the top three in each weight category qualified for the London Games.

Lizardo suffered a 9-4 defeat to Vietnamese Le Huynh Chau after dumping Tameem Al-Kubati of Yemen, 14-10, in the opening round.

The other members of the team – SEA Games champions Elaine Alora and Camille Manalo, and Samuel Morrison – bombed out right in the first round.

Morrison, a bronze medalist in the recent SEA Games, bowed to Hong Kong's Yeung Tsz Wing, 4-15, in the men's -68kg, Manalo (-57kg) was crushed by Japanese Mayu Hamada and Alora (-67kg) lost to Manita Shahi of Nepal.

In the World Championships – the first qualifying tournament for the London Games, Lizardo, sister Jyra, Jade Zafra and Marlon Avenido also failed to reach the medal round.

Tshomlee Go and Toni Rivero were the country’s bets during the Beijing Games three years ago. They also competed in Athens where Rivero narrowly missed a finals seat when she lost in the semifinals.

All is not lost, however, for the team as one or two may still qualify through the backdoor.

Philippine Taekwondo Association (PTA) Secretary General Noli Gabriel said they will request for wildcard spots but these are not guaranteed as many other nations are expected to do the same.

Jordan, Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan snared three tickets each and host Thailand and Vietnam got two seats apiece. War-torn Afghanistan surprisingly got one.

With the Olympics less than a year from now, only boxing has a representative in the Olympics and this was obtained not through qualifying but an AIBA rule which grants spots to deserving losers.

Boxing can gain more Olympic berths, however, as the team will soon compete in another qualifying tournament next month.