Lim's golden double keys karatekas romp

MANILA, Philippines - Jamie Christine Lim scored a golden double as the Filipino karatekas won 12 medals in the sixth Korea Open International Karatedo Championships in Busan, South Korea recently.

Lim stamped her class by dominating the kata and kumite events in the 13-age division, duplicating her golden double performance in the third Asian Koi Karate Championships in Kuala Lumpur earlier this year.

Jose Raphael Habalo and Alisa Karmina Cifra also won gold medals in the kumite event as the national team ended its campaign with four gold, one silver and seven bronze medals.

Cifra, of De La Salle-Zobel, topped the girls’ cadet -54kg kumite event and later clinched the bronze in the cadet kata category. Habalo, a fourth grader at Xavier School, bagged the gold medal in the nine-year-old boys’ kumite event. Habalo and Cifra also won gold medals earlier this year in the sixth World Shitoryu Karatedo Championships in Beijing.

The Korea tourney drew around 400 athletes from 27 teams representing 21 countries, with the RP team campaign backed by Milo.

“It was a huge and tough tournament and we are very pleased with the results,” said Nestle president and Milo sports events executive Pat Goc Ong. “Our players have proven their worth in international tournaments and we are happy to be part of their development,” he said.

Allen Castro took the lone silver medal for the nine-member team, while Joshua Balao won bronze medals in the 13-year-old kata and kumite events, the same output of Lars Peterson in kata and kumite events for 11-year-olds.

Daniel Uson and Rafael Lim rounded out the medal winners by winning bronze medals in the 11-year-old and cadet classes, respectively.