RP bets shine in World Karate Cup

Host Philippines held its own against powerhouse teams like Russia and Japan as it hauled down five gold medals in the tough KOI World Karate Cup at the SM Mega-trade Hall in Mandaluyong City over the weekend.

Miguel Avenido, Kristofer Nebrija, Miguel Velasquez, Rhea Torres and Rassa Velasquez beat their respective rivals in varying fashions as they spearheaded the Filipinos’ bid in the two-day event, which drew some 500 youthful karatekas from 25 nations.

Cheered on by a huge, boisterous weekend crowd, Avenido struck with gold in the individual kumite for boys’ (8-years), then Nebrija and Velasquez followed suit by toppling their rivals in the 9-year-old and 14-year-old categories, respectively.

Torres, for her part, reigned supreme in the individual kumite for girls (10-11 years) while Velasquez came through with the victory in the 12-13 years old section.

With more entries entered in the team finals in both kata and kumite events, the hosts are eyeing more gold medals in the tournament organized by the Association for the Advancement of Karatedo (AAK) chaired by Manuel "Pocholo" Veguillas.

But Russia lorded it over the field as it copped six gold medals while Japan, where the sport originated, took home five, mostly coming from kumite events.

Southeast Asian neighbors Vietnam, an emerging power in combat sports, and Malaysia also made their presence felt with the former plucking four gold medals and the latter one.

New Zealand had three golden performances while Egypt, Iran, Kazakhstan, Latvia, Northern Ireland, Netherlands and Kuwait had one gold medal apiece in this gathering of the finest karatekas from all over the globe.

Other participants were from Australia, Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, Slovenia, India, Italy, Fiji, Germany, Singapore, Uzbekistan, Pakistan and Tajikistan.

The event, which also held a training camp, referees and instructors courses from Aug. 9-12 at the La Salle-Greenhills, was sponsored by The STAR, Milo, Accel, Panasonic, Largeformatix, SM, Asus Notebook PC, Island Photo, Jollibee, Paramount Vinyl Products, Department of Tourism and Pepsi.