Owing to her lofty world ranking, Filipina-Japanese Junna Tsukii has earned a slot in the World Games slated for July 7 to 17 next year in Birmingham, Alabama, USA.
“A Big Congratulations to Karate Pilipinas National Team Member Junna Tsukii for getting a quota in the 2022 World Games in Birmingham, USA. Junna is the only Southeast Asian to qualify,” the Karate Pilipinas Sports Federation announced on its social media page.
Only eight karate competitors from around the world will compete in each weight class. Tsukii is ranked no. 4 in the world.
“I was not able to participate in the last Olympics, but here I have a chance to give all my efforts and sacrifices. I will surely do it,” said Tsukii who is proud of his Asian heritage.
“I have two countries, since birth. People like us are sometimes referred to as halves. I sometimes wonder, am I not perfect, do I only have half of each? I was sometimes anxious about this.”
Tsukii said he sometimes told “you are not Japanese” or “you are not Filipino.” She is both Japanese and Filipino.
“The fact that I grew up in Japan and now carry the Philippine flag and fight for the people I love in both countries is a fact that no one can change. So it is me, and no one else, who decides who I am.”
She vowed to make Filipinos proud in the World Games.
TWO FROM MUAY THAI
In another positive development, US-based Muay Thai athlete Leeana Bade will also go to the World Games after qualifying in the 63.5-kilogram category as a wild card entry through the efforts of the Muay Thai Association of the Philippines.
Bade, who is training at Smash Fighter in California, has an unblemished 6-0 record in amateur Muay Thai and holds three Muay Thai titles, including the West Coast East Women’s title.
Bade is the daughter of former Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) player Chris Bade, who formerly played for Shell.
Earlier, male Muay Thai athlete Philip Delarmino earned a ticket to the World Games following his victory in the men’s -57kg diadem in the 2021 IFMA World Muaythai Championships in Phuket, Thailand last year.
He was also nominated for the World Games Athlete of the Year.
What made Delarmino’s nomination special was that it’s the first time that a Filipino and a Muay Thai athlete has been considered for the prestigious award by the World Games, an international multi-sport competition that holds sports events that are not contested in the Olympic Games.
The games are held every four years, a year after the Olympics.
Delarmino beat Russian Alexander Abramov in the championship round to secure the gold. On the way to the final, he stopped India’s Laishram Bidyachandra Singh in two rounds, before beating Javad Vahid Reza of Sweden on points in the quarterfinals.
Then, he defeated Kazakhstan’s Almaz Sarsembekov in a tight semifinal contest to arrange the final duel with Abramov.
“I believe that in order to earn a magnificent triumph, one should trust in his capabilities and strength and give his best in every game.”