Pinoy karateka strikes in Brunei

MANILA, Philippines — Filipino national champion AZ Pamaybay overwhelmed Vietnamese Phe Ngoc Thanh, 9-3, to deliver the country’s lone gold medal in the 12th Southeast Asian Karate Federation Championships in Brunei Darussalam Thursday.

The triumph in the cadet kumite male -57-kg division by the eighth-grader from the University of Mindanao Tagum College ensured the country wouldn’t go home without a gold.

Pamaybay, who topped the same class in the 6th Karate Pilipinas National Championships in Tagaytay last March, capped a dominating performance that included emphatic wins over Indonesia’s Divaine Bagus Sudiro, 8-0, Brunei’s Awangku Hasimuddin, 3-0, and Vietnam’s Nguyen Than Phu, 4-1.

Alexis Nicole Villacarlos won a silver medal in the junior female -66kg section.