Tsukii looms as among favorites in Asian karate tourney

MANILA, Philippines – Junna Tsukii will try to make up for her World Karate Championships disappointment as she spearheads the country’s campaign in the Asian Championships slated December 19-22 in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

The 30-year-old Filipino-Japanese karateka will be one of the favorites in the three-day event being ranked No. 1 in the region and No. 5 in the world in her -50-kilogram weight class.

“We’re ready but we are expecting good opponents from Iran, Kazakhstan and China,” said Tsukii during Friday’s online Philippine Sports Commission (PSC) Hour.

Tsukii arrived in the country recently and proceeded straight to Baguio where he joined with the rest of the Philippine team training for the forthcoming Almaty competition.

The Asian Games bronze medalist and Southeast Asian Games gold medal winner has trained her sights at a medal finish in Almaty and make up for her frustrations in the World Championships in Dubai last month where she lost to Uzbek Bakhriniso Babaeva in the second round.

Interestingly, there’s a chance she might face Babaeva in Almaty.

“I just want to think positive and not dwell on the past too much,” said Tsukii.

Tsukii will be joined by a squad that also included World Championship revelation Jamie Lim, who made heads turn in Dubai where she made it as far as the repechage round and barely missed out on a potential bronze.