2 PH karate aces bag Thailand Open gold
Jayson Macaalay and Jaime Villegas nailed a gold medal each in the recent Thailand Open Karatedo Championship as the Filipinos held their own against some of the toughest fighters in the continent.
Macaalay subdued Thailand’s Tanapon Romruen, 4-1, in the -60 kg finals of the senior male individual kumite while the 16-year-old Villegas topped the junior male individual kata at the expense of Thai Korachit Sukhanusart in front of a highly partisan crowd in Bangkok’s Indoor Stadium Huamark.
Filipino karatekas also bagged seven silver and 14 bronze medals with cadet entries David Tubana (-52 kg), Brian de Jesus (-57 kg) and John Aori Sevillo (+70 kg), juniors Gabriel Villaluz Jr (-55 kg) and Bea Balungaya (+56 kg), senior fighter Mae Soriano (-55 kg) and the PH men’s team finishing runners-up, all in kumite (sparring).
Karatedo is one of five sports that will make its debut in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
