Junna Tsukii and Jamie Lim — two of the country’s most distinguished karatekas — will not be around when Team Philippines competes in the 33rd Southeast Asian Games set from 9 to 20 December in Thailand.
Karate Pilipinas president Richard Lim said Tsukii had already retired will Lim is busy with her day job as data analyst for a private company, prompting them to miss the prestigious biennial meet.
The national karate squad will have a gaping hole due to the absence of Tsukii and Lim. The Filipino-Japanese Tsukii had already collected six medals in the women’s 50-kilogram kumite event of the SEA Games, including a gold in the 30th edition in Manila in 2019, while Lim clinched two gold medals in the women’s 61-kg kumite event in Manila and the 32nd SEA Games in Cambodia in 2023.
Still, the Filipino karatekas will be ready.
“Jamie will not be competing in the SEA Games because of her new career but we have agreed that we will prepare for the Asian Games next year,” Lim said in an episode of “Off the Court,” the weekly online sports show of DAILY TRIBUNE, on Thursday.
“Well, all of them have a good chance of winning but I would say a few that are notably good.”
In the previous edition of the Games in Phnom Penh, the Filipino karatekas won two gold, one silver and nine bronze medals, making them one of the consistent medal producers for Team Philippines.
But now that two of their stars are gone, the karatekas will be banking on Sakura Alforte, Remon Misu, Arianne Isabelle Brito, John Matthew Manahan and Ivan Christopher Agustin, who all contributed to the medal haul of the previous biennial meets.
Lim said he is leaving no stone unturned in preparing the karatekas for the tough battles in the SEA Games. In fact, he is already plotting their overseas training to make sure that they will be ready, especially now that their stars will not be around.
“For our kumite team, it will be in Turkey and then kata it will be in Japan or, we will bring the Japanese coach here to Manila,” Lim said.