Daddy’s girl delivers for Samboy

MANILA, Philippines — It wasn’t easy to find the pot at the end of the rainbow but Jamie Lim endured the hardships to claim her second career SEA Games gold medal via a sweep of three assignments in the -61kg kumite event of karate in Cambodia last Sunday. Lim arrives home from Phnom Penh today and will stay until her 26th birthday on Saturday when she leaves for London to finish her one-year Master’s course in Business Analytics at Imperial College.

“Actually, my pairings weren’t the best,” said Lim. “My first fight was against the defending SEA Games champion (Thi Ngoan Nguyen) from Vietnam. She beat me in the semis in Hanoi last year. My second fight was against Malaysia (Siti Nur Azwan Nor) who won the Southeast Asian championship in Manila last March. And I fought a Cambodian (Vann Chokriya) in the final. I didn’t decide to join the SEA Games until last January. I was alone in London, pushing myself to stay in condition twice a day in the gym and in between, going to class. Once a week, I went to a dojo about an hour away from school to spar and took only six trips. I would cry because of the stress. Then, I went to Turkey to train with the national team for three weeks. I can’t wait to see my dad (Samboy Lim) in Manila and show him my gold and silver (in women’s team kumite). I can’t believe I’m now like him with two SEA Games gold medals.” Samboy was on the Philippine basketball team that struck gold in the 1983 and 1985 SEA Games.

Lim said Turkish coach Levert Aydemir played a big role in the Philippine karate team’s improvement from eight bronzes last year to two golds, six silvers and a bronze in Cambodia. “Coach has a sharp eye,” she said. “In each of my first two fights, he called for a video review twice and both were upheld. That’s a perfect four of four. He’s also good in polishing skills, pointing out small details that lead to big things like the extension of the arm.” Aydemir replaced another Turkish coach Okay Arpa early this year.

Lim will finish her Master’s studies this month and graduation will be in August next year. She’s disappointed that karate isn’t in the Paris Olympics but buoyed by her performance in the SEA Games, her next goal is to make a splash in the coming Asian Games. Lim said Cambodia was “more fair” than Hanoi. “But there were bouts that could’ve gone our way,” she said. “Junna (Tsukii), for instance, lost by a 3-2 decision in her final after a 1-1 tie.” Tsukii floored Malaysian champion Chandran Shahmalarani twice and appeared to do enough to win but the verdict went the other way.