JAMIE Christine Lim fought the match of her life but it wasn’t enough to convince the judges yesterday as she narrowly lost to Dutchwoman Lynn Snell in the kumite (sparring) repechage round of the 25th Senior World Karate Championships in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.
Battling for a crack at the bronze medal in the women’s minus 61kg division, Lim and Snell were deadlocked at 1-all after the three-minute match filled with pulsating action, according to karate chief Ricky Lim, who watched the bout from the gallery at the Hamdan Sports Complex.
“In case of a tie, the referee needs to cast the deciding vote for a result, and Jaimie lost 2-3 by judges’ decision,” Lim sad.
Snell advanced against Canada’s Haya jumaa, a losing semifinalist to Ukrainian Anita Serogina, who beat Lim in the quarterfinals, for the bronze medal tomorrow.
Lim’s loss followed the early exit last Wednesday night of teammate Junna Tsukii, who dropped a 2-3 decision to former Asian champion Bakhriniso Babaeva in the second round of the women’s minus 50kg class.
Tsuuki, a gold medalist in the 2019 Southeast Asian Games, kicked off her bid with a majority decision win over North Macedonia’s Sara Radicevska in the first round.
Although the daughter of former basketball star Avelino “Samboy” Lim failed in her bid for a podium finish, the karate honcho said her maiden stint in the world meet was “very impressive for a first-timer.
“In fact, Jamie is being talked about in the Asian region as someone to watch in the forthcoming Southeast Asian Games and Asian Games.”
Still competing at press time in the kata (forms) event were 2019 Southeast Asian Games bronze medalists John Enrico Vasquez and Sarah Pangilinan in the men’s and women’s divisions, respectively.
