As Sorn Seavmey reached the peak of his country’s acclaim as the first Cambodian athlete ever to qualify for the Olympics just days ago, the taekwondo star went down gallantly to Lee Da-bin of South Korea in the women’s -73kg class in the Asian Taekwondo Championships at the Mariott Convention Center in Pasay in the Phillipines yesterday.

The silver medal will now place Seavmey as No2 in Asia and is likely to boost her world rankings in the -73 kg category, although the 21 year-old sensation will be fighting in the +67 kg category at the Olympics Games in Rio.

The World Taekwondo Federation confirmed Seavmey’s Olympic qualification in a congratulatory message to the National Olympic Committee of Cambodia.

Meanwhile, after a month of rigorous training with Seavmey in South Korea, Chhoeung Puthearim is in line for a medal at the Asian Championships being held on the sidelines of the Olympic qualification tournament.

Puthearim advanced to the semifinals of the -53 kg class without landing a kick as her Chinese rival failed to show up for the quarterfinals.