KATA (forms) specialists John Enrico Vasquez and Filipino-Japanese Sarah Miyuki Pangilinan will join their national kumite (sparring) teammates set to see action in the world karate Olympic qualifying tournament on June 11-14 in Paris, France.
Karate chief Ricky Lim, who is currently with the national team training in Istanbul, Turkey, said Vasquez and Pangilinan, who won bronze medals in the 2019 Southeast Asian Games, will be reunited with their teammates in the French capital on June 7.
Lim said Vasquez will be flying to Paris together with national kata coach Chino Veguillas from Manila on June 6 on the same day that Pangilinan is departing from Tokyo to take part in the Olympic qualifying competition.
“We see the potential of these two young kata athletes so this is why we are funding their trip to the Olympic qualifiers so that we can season them for future international competition,” Lim, the Karate Pilipinas Sports Foundation Inc. president, explained.
Lim said the national team will also be leaving on June 7 to Paris, a three-hour flight from Istanbul.
Scheduled to join the rest of the team on May 31 is 30th Southeast Asian Games gold medalist Junna Tsukii, who recently copped a gold medal in the Karate-1 Premier League in Lisbon, Portugal last May 2.
Lim said the continues to step up its training, with coach Sonny Montalvo and karateka Alwyn Batican arriving in Istanbul over the weekend to spar with the Olympic hopefuls.
