Eight Cebuano karatekas shine on national stage
Eight Cebuano karatekas under the aegis of the Association for the Upliftment of Karatedo (AUK)Cebu Headquarters stamped their classes in the 5th Karate Pilipinas National Championships staged last March 1-3 at the Tagaytay Combat Sports Center in Tagaytay City.
Under the guidance of AUK founder Rhodee Antoinette Saavedra, a former karate world champion who is their coach and trainer, Cebu’s top bets hauled six gold, two silver, and four bronze medals in the three-day tilt spearheaded by the Karate Pilipinas Sports Federation Inc.
Alexis Nicole Villacarlos, a student of Cebu Eastern College (CEC), grabbed a pair of golds in the 14-15 years old cadet female open kata and -61kg category.
That earned Villacarlos a ticket to three international competitions starting off with the Southeast Asian Karate Championships on April 2426 in Bangkok, Thailand, and then the Cadets, Juniors and Under 21 Asian Karate Championships this August in Manila.
Villacarlos is also set to don the country’s tri-colors in the World Karate 1-Youth League on May 1619 in Coruña, Spain together with national athletes Giovanni Ephraim Apuya and Rus Josua Macaya.
Macaya bagged gold in the -55kg Under 21 male kumite and silver in the -55kg senior male kumite, while Apuya snatched a gilt in the U21 make kata and a bronze in the senior male kata.
Roshenne Maira Silva produced a gold in the -61kgs U21 female kumite and a bronze in the -61kgs senior female kumite, while
Jeremy Laurence Nopre delivered the other gold in the senior male kata.
Felix Calipusan Jr. contributed a silver in the senior male kata, while the other bronze medalists were Rik Simon Macaya in the -68kg junior male kumite and Allison Kyle Quiroga in the senior female kata. –