Jiu-jitsu’s Custodio leads Philippine sports’ October achievers

MANILA, Philippines — Jiu-jitsu ace Kimberly Anne Custodio showed the way as Philippine athletes produced a sparkling performance in the international stage in October.

Custodio reigned supreme in the adult female -45kg class of the JJIF World Championship in Heraklion, Greece where the country also won a silver medal from Jollirine Co (adult female -48kg) and bronze from Daniella Palanca (adult female -45kg) and Annie Ramirez (adult female -57kg).

Custodio duplicated her previous title run in the 2022 edition of the world meet in Abu Dhabi, a feat that earned her raves as the Philippine Sportswriters Association’s top achiever for the month.

 Junior bets from various fronts, the Philippine Volcanoes sevens teams, pool star Carlo Biado and Olympian Hergie Bacyadan grabbed a piece of the spotlight with equally stellar plays.

Custodio’s fellow jiu-jitsu athlete, Isabelle Butler, won the tiara in the under-18 female -57kg side of the world meet held in Greece. 

Taekwondo jin Tachina Keizha Mangin topped the female -49kg competition of the World Taekwondo Junior Championships in Chuncheon, South Korea, claiming the country’s first junior world title since Alex Borromeo’s triumph back in 1996 in Barcelona.

Wushu young gun Alexander Gabriel Delos Reyes dominated the Taolu Boy's Taijishan A event of the 9th World Junior Wushu Championships in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei. 

Meanwhile, the Volcanoes scored a twin kill in the Asia Rugby Emirates Sevens Trophy in Kathmandu, Nepal with the men's team beating Chinese Taipei, 27-14, and the women’s crew defeating India, 7-5, en route to winning the meet and earning promotion to Division 1.

Biado dominated the inaugural Ho Chi Minh City Open in Vietnam at the expense of Mario He, 13-8, then joined Team Asia in outclassing Team Europe in the first-ever Reyes Cup back home, 11-6.

After competing as a boxer in Paris, Bacyadan showed her flexibility by copping the mint in the Asian Kickboxing Championships in Cambodia. Bacyadan overwhelmed Chinese Jinwei Teng in the women’s K1 70-kg division finale to lead a bountiful harvest of five golds, one silver, and 10 bronzes for the Pinoy delegation and secure for herself a spot to the World Combat Games set next year in Chengdu, China.