THE chances for at least three Filipino karatekas of qualifying for the sport’s debut at next year’s Tokyo Olympics gained ground after the World Karate Federation (WKF) moved back the Games qualifiers in Paris to June 2021.
Karate Pilipinas President Richard Lim said the top-caliber karatekas who already qualified for Tokyo won’t be in Paris in June, giving local bets Joane Bernice Orbon, Jamie Lim and Junna Tsukii a broader opportunity to make the Olympics.
“This is a blessing for the local athletes as the top-caliber karatekas who earned their slots to Tokyo will not be around,” Lim told the Philippine Sportswriters Association Forum online edition on Tuesday. “The athletes who have qualified through the world rankings and Asian rankings will not be there in Paris.”
The WKF ruled that the top 4 in the world and the top 2 in the continental rankings get automatic slots to the Tokyo Games, where karate is making its debut.
According to Lim, Orbon (female, -61kg) and Lim (female, +61kg) bagging gold medals at the Ukrainian Karate Premier League Kharkiv Open last February are potential indications that they can mix it up with the world-class athletes.
Tsukii, meanwhile, clinched a bronze medal in the female -50 kg division of the Karate1 Premier League in Paris last January.
Orbon is now based in the California, while Tsukii is in Japan. Lim, daughter of Philippine Basketball Association legend Samboy Lim, has been training online at home.