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World Games gold redemption for Pinay karate champ Junna Tsukii

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Manolo Pedralvez

<div class="embed-wrap"><figure data-feedback="fb:likes,fb:comments"><img alt="Junna Tsukii of Philippines in action at the 18th Asian Games in Jakarta, August 27, 2018. Adi Weda, EPA-EFE/file" src="https://sa.kapamilya.com/absnews/abscbnnews/media/2022/overseas/07/11/junna.jpg"/><figcaption>Junna Tsukii of Philippines in action at the 18th Asian Games in Jakarta, August 27, 2018. Adi Weda, EPA-EFE/file</figcaption></figure></div>Not too many were aware that Junna Tsukii, who won the country’s first gold medal in karate Saturday (Friday in the US) at the 12th World Games in Birmingham, Alabama, was ready to quit over frustration after losing to Spain’s Morales Gema in her third fight.“Junna felt she was given the raw deal by the judges after she fought Gema to a 3-all draw but lost by senshu (first to score advantage),” explained karate chief Ricky Lim, who was at ringside at the Bill Battle Coliseum in witnessing the match. Lim said that Tsukii was inconsolable over the setback that the 2018 Asian Games bronze medalist was ready to give up her career then and there. <ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/07/09/22/karateka-tsukii-nakamit-ang-ginto-sa-2022-world-games">Karateka Junna Tsukii nakamit ang ginto sa 2022 World Games</a></li></ul>“Muntik na siyang (Tsukii) himatayin sa talo. Ang sabi niya give up na siya sa karate career niya dahil dinamdam niya yung resulta kasi alam na dapat na na nanalo siya (She (Tsukii) nearly fainted because of the lost and was sobbing. She told us she wanted to quit her career),” he recalled.<ul class="op-related-articles">	<li><a href="https://news.abs-cbn.com/sports/03/13/22/pinay-karateka-junna-tsukii-punches-world-games-ticket">Pinay karateka Junna Tsukii punches 2022 World Games ticket</a></li></ul>Lim said that the petite athlete needed cheering up to gain her resolve and motivation back.“It took myself, his father-coach Shin Tsukii, who flew all the way from Tokyo, coach Okay Arpa and chef de mission Pato Gregorio in convincing Junna to go on because she had already reached the semifinals,” the Karate Pilipinas Sports Foundation, Inc. president bared with a sigh of relief.“We pleaded with Tsukii to forget the defeat and focus on her performance because she had already made it to the semifinals,” said the karate head.She had reached the crossover semifinals, pitting her against two-time Japanese world champion Miho Miyahara, after placing second in a three-way tie for second place in the round-robin prelims with a record of 1 win and 2 losses.“Junna took the second semis place in her group because she had a better cumulative score over the German and the Spanish karateka,” Lim explained. It was a vastly different Tsukii, a gold medalist in the 2019 30th Southeast Asian Games, who faced the top-seeded Miyahara, whom she had never beaten before in any international meet organized by the World Karate Federation, according to the karate chief.Unlike her previous match, the Filipina karateka was all poise and precision in scoring a nail-biting 4-3 upset victory over her fancied Japanese rival.Awaiting her in the gold-medal bout was Venezuelan Yorgelis Salazar, who gave her Tsukii a severe 8-1 beating in their opening match, which Lim said came as a surprise because the latter had vanquished the Venezuelan in previous encounter in WKF competitions.“Salazar showed great improvement that shocked us when she beat Tsukii in the first round. But we discovered her weakness and exploited that in the rematcn,” he said, noting that the Venezuelan was good in the counterattack but did not know how to initiate one. “The last time they met, the Venezuelan was clever with her counters but was weak in instigating the attack. So coach Okay decided to revise Junna’s strategy to make her come to us,” Lim said of the ploy in the finals.“Kumuha muna si Junna ng isang puntos sa umpisa sa Venezuelan tapos hayaan na siyang maghabol. ( We got Junna to score an early points then allowed the Venezuelan to catch up,” of the successful strategy that resulted in a rousing 2-0 victory for Tsukii in the finals.She gained the distinction of being the country’s second gold medalist in the quadrennial global sportsfest for largely non-Olympic disciplines after billiards star Carlo Biado ruled the men’s 9-ball event in the 2017 edition held in Wroclaw, Poland. “This is a gold medal to all of you who have continued to believe in me at all times. Thank you so much, I love you,” Tsukii posted on <a href="https://www.facebook.com/junna.tsukii">Facebook</a> with her hand clasping the gold medal.“Junna redeemed herself with this hard-earned gold medal at The World Games,” said Lim of Tsukii’s historic triumph that more than made up for her failure to qualify in 2022 to the Tokyo Olympic Games and unsuccessful outing in the 31st Vietnam SEA Games last May.

Not too many were aware that Tsukii, who won gold at the World Games in Birmingham, was ready to quit over frustration after losing her third fight.