(POC Media Pool photo)
The Philippine women’s kata team captured a bronze medal Tuesday at the 20th Asian Games in Nagoya, Japan.
Samantha Veguillas, Rebecca Cyril Torres and Ysabelle Arrogante defeated Thailand’s Ramitar Terananon, Monsicha Sakulrattanatara and Phatcharin Plangplai, 4-1, at Toyohashi Gymnasium to secure a podium finish.
The Filipinas opened their campaign with a dominant 5-0 victory over Cambodia’s Sreynuch Puthea, Oun Sreyda and That Chhenghorng before losing to Iran, 0-5, in the semifinals.
“We didn’t think about who our opponents were. We just claimed the bronze for ourselves,” Arrogante said.
Torres said the medal was the result of years of perseverance despite setbacks.
“It has been a long journey. My teammates and I have been through so much hardship. There were many losses over the years, but we just kept performing and fighting until the very end,” she said.
The team also received a boost after learning a day earlier that the Philippines had qualified for the Karate World Cup in November in Hangzhou, China.
“We were inspired, so we will keep this going, the positive results,” Arrogante said.
Head coach Sonny Montalvo praised the team’s dedication and said the medal could provide momentum for the rest of the Philippine delegation.
“A big boost for karate. We’ve seen that Filipinos are talented. We just need to have confidence. This will also inspire the delegation here. There are still many others set to compete,” Montalvo said.
The Philippines previously won karate bronze medals at the Asian Games through Filipino-Japanese Junna Tsukii in Jakarta in 2018 and Sakura Alforte in Hangzhou in 2023.
Alforte, an individual kata specialist, did not compete this year following a new rule requiring all members of the squad to participate in the team event.
