Filipino bets crash out of kata competition in karate worlds

MANILA, Philippines—A couple of Filipino bets suffered early exits in the kata tournament of the 2021 World Karate Federation Senior Championships Thursday in Dubai.

Sarah Pangilinan started strong after two rounds, even taking the top spot after the first, but fizzled out in the third after she scored the lowest score, 22.86, among the eight competitors.

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The 2019 Southeast Asian Games bronze medalist had a strong start to the tournament with a 24.94 in the first round and a 24.46 in the second.

John Enrico Vasquez didn’t fare better in the men’s side as he was eliminated in the second round as he finished seventh out of eight karatekas with a score of 22.66 in his pool.

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Another bronze medalist in the 2019 SEA Games, Vasquez opened his campaign with a 22.52 in the first round.

The Philippines’ run in the kumite tournament also had an abrupt end after Junna Tsukii and Jamie Lim got eliminated in the women’s -50 and -61 kilogram divisions, respectively.