How far would you go to achieve your dream?
Fil-Japanese karateka Junna Tsukii is willing to go to the ends of the earth to achieve her dream of competing in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
She has in fact literally done just that after competing in 11 international tournaments in six continents (Europe, Asia, South America, North America, Asia, and Africa) in 2019 alone.
The goal is to become the best karateka in her weight class in Asia by the time the Olympics roll around and represent the continent in Tokyo. She will achieve this by accumulating enough points from the World Karate Federation tournaments until April.
She is now Number 10 in the world and Number 4 in Asia. She has already won two bronze medals this year in tournaments in Chile, South America, and France, Europe.
She says she is well prepared and well-trained. It will be a matter of executing when she competes during karate tournaments.
“It’s easy to get nervous before the game, but Kaffea Coffee warms my body and relieves tension. This coffee isn’t too sweet and has a really good taste. Delicious anytime,” said Junna.
She says she is grateful for the support of Kaffea which has been her constant companion in her journey to Tokyo.
“I am so thankful and so happy that I can keep fighting for my Olympic dream with my Kaffea family,” said Junna.
The Fil-Japanese karateka has come a long way not just in travel going to tournaments all over the world but in her world and Asian rankings. How far she has gone up in the rankings is a testament to her perseverance and tenacity.
She had to overcome all sorts of adversity to reach her place in the WKF rankings.
She needed to be in WKF top 100 to be able to participate in the Olympic qualification competitions. She was not even eligible to join because she was ranked 626th in the world. Then in 2018 she grabbed a bronze medal at the Asian Games which boosted her ranking enabling her to compete for a spot in the Olympics.
“Many players might have given up because they were not able to produce good result early. I’m not one of them. I clawed my way up from 626th place. Now, world champions, judges and coaches of other countries call me ‘A strong girl from the Philippines’,” said Junna.
She joins four more Karate 1 Premier League tournaments this year hoping to ascend to the top spot in Asia. This will be in Dubai on February 14–16, Austria on February 29–March 1, Morocco on March 13–15 and Spain on April–19.
If she can come out as the top Asian karateka in her weight class, then she goes on to compete in Tokyo.
If she doesn’t make it to the top by then she has a fallback position. She is also preparing for the last Olympic qualifier in Paris, France, in May if ever she falls short in her quest to emerge on top in the continent.
So, how far will you go to achieve your dream?
Junna Tsukii has circled the globe hoping to be finally rewarded with her dream of competing in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics in July.