JUNNA Tsukii gave the Philippines its first gold in the 2022 World Games in Birmingham, Alabama.
The Filipina-Japanese karateka won with a 2-0 victory over Yorgelis Salazar of Venezuela in the final of the women’s kumite -50 kilograms.
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The Filipina karateka actually had a slow start to the competitions, finishing with a 1-2 win-loss record in the group stage including an 8-1 defeat over Salazar. Tsukii won over Shara Hubrich of Germany, 6-4, but also bowed to Gema Morales Ozuna of Spain.
But Tsukii bounced back and earned a trip to the finals with a 4-3 win over Miho Miyahara of Japan.
Tsukii then beat her Venezuelan foe in the gold medal bout.
The World Games opened on Thursday (Friday Manila time), with the Philippines also set to compete in other events such as billiards, powerlifting, and duathlon, among others.
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