PH karate team wins 8 medals in Turkey

Photo from Karate Pilipinas

The 14-member Philippine karate team training for the upcoming Southeast Asian Games recently won eight medals from a national tournament in Turkey, as it finished its two-month training for the biennial competition to be held in New Clark City.

In an interview with the Inquirer, Karate Pilipinas (KP) president Richard Lim said University of the Philippines summa cum laude graduate Jamie Berberabe Lim led the team during the 2019 Amatar Spor Haftasi Karate Championship in Sakarya, Turkey, on Oct. 13.

The team won its only gold medal after a commanding 8-0 finish in the senior female -68kg kumite (sparring).

The daughter of Philippine basketball legend Samboy Lim and former Pag-Ibig fund CEO Darlene Berberabe, the younger Lim showed immense improvement in the two months since getting back to the sport after a long hiatus to focus on her studies as a BS Mathematics major in UP, the KP president said.

‘Picked up quickly’

She was selected by the team’s foreign coach Okay Arpa to join the training pool in July. “[Lim] picked up quite quickly … despite her long break,” he said.

The other winners were former SEA Games karate delegate Rexor Tacay (silver, senior male -67kg kumite), Ivan Agustin (silver, senior male, -75kg  kumite), Miyuki Tacay (silver, senior female, -61kg kumite), Mae Soriano (bronze, senior female, -55kg kumite), Engene Dagohoy (bronze, senior male, -84kg kumite), Prince Alejo (bronze, senior male, -67kg kumite) and Sharief Afif (bronze, senior male, -75kg kumite).

Richard Lim, himself a two-time SEA Games gold medalist in kata, said they were hoping to select soon the 17 members who would compete in the SEA games out of the 14 players who trained in Turkey and the seven who were sent to Japan.

Those who hauled medals in the 2017 SEA Games in Malaysia are already part of the team, he said, referring to, among others, silver medalists John Paul Bejar, Jayson Macaalay and Rexor Tacay.

Jamie Lim is a strong contender for the team, especially given her height (5’9”), which would be a strong advantage for the kumite events, he added.

They’re also hoping to surpass the five medals they brought home two years ago.