Kara looks to triathlon to improve in tennis
‘I DON’T want to lose anymore.’
So said 11-year old Kristin Renne “Kara” Salimbangon, after bagging her first win last April and making it to the finals of the Dunlop Sport Junior Tennis Championships 2012-Visayas Series tournament.
Since that win, which came after a string of finals losses, Kara has been on a roll and is now one of the rising stars in Cebu tennis.
Kara has been playing tennis since she was six years old and was motivated to pursue the sport by her father Ken Salimbangon, also a tennis enthusiast. Kara’s younger brother, Cesar Kristofer Salimbangon, eight years old, has been competing alongside with her and has also won several tennis competitions in his di- vision.
Her love for the sport didn’t come instantly and it took her time to enjoy tennis. Kara said the reason she got into the sport in the first place was to lose weight but after seeing how well her body has reacted to the sport, she has grown to love playing every second of it and now aims to win competitions.
“I love tennis now, it’s something that I want to do,” said Kara, who is also a consistent honor student of St. Benedict Childhood Education Center. Kara values her education as much as tennis. She particularly loves English, math and science. “Doing well in school is one step closer to my dream of competing internationally. I hope to score a good scholarship with my skill in tennis and be able to train and study abroad.”
It took her some time to get to where she is now and she suffered a series of losses during the many Philippine Tennis Association (Philta) tour- naments held locally last year. However, after winning her first competition in Davao against Kathleen Arandia during the SmartHead Junior Satellite Circuit, 6-3, 6-4 Kara has been on a roll, winning her age group in the Milo Tennis Junior Cup, 4th Henry Lee Memorial AgeGroup Tennis Championships and the Smart-head Junior Tennis in Bacolod.
Now ranked seventh in the country, Kara, who is a Maria Sharapova and Roger Federer fan, is eyeing more wins to break into the top three of the Girls Juniors Rankings.
Desire
“It takes intense focus, discipline and willingness to train to become a good tennis player. It’s not easy playing under the scorching heat of the sun but when you desire for yourself to win it and you win, it’s the best feeling in the whole world,” she said. What if you lose? Kara meekly shrugged and said, “I try not to lose. It’s a bad feeling so I strive to be at my best every time I play. But it happens, you know. It’s part of the learning process – so that’s what I do, I learn from it and I train harder.”
Aside from facing other players, another aspect of tennis Kara loves is “‘the touring! Visiting new places and meeting new people! The experience is always different. Always new and I love it!’
Kara has competed in Subic, Manila, Davao, Dumaguete, Iloilo and South Cotabato and she believes that it is through meeting and competing with other people that she learns the most. She observes how other athletes play so she becomes well informed of her opponents’ style and thus be able to prepare for them.
“I hope to travel more in the years to come. I want to go to Malaysia, Japan and maybe Korea. And someday, I wish to go to London and hopefully compete in the Wimbledon Championships. That is my greatest dream,” she said.
And one way of getting there could be through the Ironkids competition.
Kara, who lives by the slogan ‘Always one second earlier to the ball’ alternately cross-trains and plays tennis for 90 minutes every day.
As she is currently working on her speed and stamina, her workout routine mostly consists of swimming, running, and a series of foot speed, agility and quickness drills. This training program was personally made by her father to prepare Kara physically, mentally and emotionally for competitions.
Discipline
And with further training in mind, her father signed her up for the Alaska Iron Kids Competition on Aug. 4 at Shangri-La Mactan Resort & Spa.
“Having seen the figures, I believe Kara can pull it through this race. This is good exposure for Kara. By finishing the race, she can feel good about herself and then she will gain confidence but what’s most essential to this experience is discipline and that she gets exposed to competing. Joining the triathlon is not something we’re focusing on, but if Kara can do both, then why not? I’d be happy to support her all the way,” said her father.
Aside from the Ironkids, Ken, who Kara said is her inspiration for tennis, plans to tour his daughter around Asia to compete.
“I used to lose a lot during competitions, too. But that didn’t stop me from trying,” she said.