Karatekas bag 3 golds, eye more international stints

MANILA, Philippines - The national karatedo team gears up for its campaign in three major international tournaments  with a three-gold haul in the recently concluded Turkey International Open in Istanbul.

National coach Alvin Parvinfar of Iran spearheaded the country’s bid by clinching two gold medals, while newcomer KC Santiago provided the other gold won by the Filipinos in the tournament featuring 21 countries.

Parvinfar topped both the individual kumite and individual kata, while Santiago ruled the women’s individual kata, while adding a bronze in the individual kumite.

Two other bronze medals were won by Team Philippines in Turkey, where it also underwent a 27-day training camp.

Philippine Karatedo Federation (PKF) secretary-general Raymond Lee hopes the team’s successful campaign in Turkey will augur well for the Filipinos’ participation in next year’s World and Asian Championships and the 2017 Southeast Asian Games in Malaysia.

“ Hopefully we can do the same next year,” said Lee in the weekly Philippine Sportswriters Association (PSA) Forum at Shakey’s Malate on Tuesday.

“Actually, the training camp is part of our exposure for our national athletes for the coming international tournaments. “We also brought along our young athletes for them to see and compete against the best so they get early exposure to tougher  international competitions,” added the PKF official in Filpino.

Lee was joined in the session presented by San Miguel Corp., Accel, Shakey’s, and the Philippine Amusement and Gaming Corp. by Parvinfar and Santiago, along with John Paul Bejar, Carmelo Patricio Jr., Eugene Dagohoy, and Rexor Romaquin – all members of the team that won the bronze in kata.

Romaquin also bagged the bronze in the individual kata.

For Parvinfar, the two golds were the first he won in a tournament after a long time.