NOW ranked No. 1 in the World Karate Federations women’s Under-21 division in kata, Sakura Alforte will make her debut as a senior member of the national team when it plunges into action today in the Asian Karate Championships in Malacca, Malaysia.
“Sakura will make her debut as a senior national team member in the Asian championships because she is turning 21 soon,” karate chief Richard Lim said of the Cambodia Southeast Asian Games gold medalist vying in the four-day tournament.
Lim said Alforte was also set to see action in the ANOC Beach Games, supposed to be held in Bali, Indonesia next month, but this was scrapped after the Indonesian government decided not to support the competition.
“She (Alforte) would have been the only Southeast Asian in the event outside of host Indonesia had the competition pushed through,” he said, adding a victory in the Asian meet would have merited an invitation in the WKF Premier League.
Instead, Lim said, Alforte will banner the national team composed of up-and-coming karatekas that will compete in the Asian meet since veterans such as Junna Tsukii, Jamie Christine Lim and Joko Vasquez will skip the event.
“We are reserving our key players for the Asian Games while giving our second level athletes a break so there is going to be a turnover of talent once our veterans retire,” Lim said. “We need to expose these younger players to international play because they will be our future in the long run.”
