By Leobert Julian A. de la Peña
Filipina karatekas Junna Tsukii and Jamie Lim fell short of a gold medal during the 17th Asian Karate Championships held at the Baluan Sholak Sports Palace in Almaty, Kazakhstan and instead settled for silver medals.
Tsukii, who is the current world no. 4 in the rankings, crumbled against hometown bet Moldir Zhangbyrbay in the senior Kumite female -50 kg category.
It was perfect revenge for Zhangbyrbay after Tsukii got the better of her last May during the 2021 Karate Premier League held in Portugal.
The Filipina-Japanese superstar was in a groove heading into the grand finals after defeating several big names in the tournament including Young Jung Ji of South Korea, world no. 29 Yee Ting Tsang of Hongkong, and Hawraa Al Ajmi of the United Arab Emirates.
However, Tsukii found herself matched up against the rejuvenated home bet that was eager to get back at her on the international stage.
Meanwhile, Lim, who represented the country in the senior kumite female -61 kg category, lost at the hands of Sarah Al Ameri of the United Arab Emirates in the grand finals.
It was a tightly-contested showdown between the two grand finalists but Al Ameri nipped the Filipina by just a margin of one, 2-1.
Despite the back-to-back silver medal finishes by Tsukii and Lim, this is still one of the best outings from team Philippines in the Asian Karate Championships.
