A mere .20 points separated reigning Cambodia Southeast Asian Games kata queen Sakura Alforte from toughest rival Rebecca Torres to bag the gold medal in the Philippine National Games karate championships Thursday night at the Philsports Arena in Pasig City.
Alforte had her hands full before pulling off a thrilling win over veteran and former national champion Torres, scoring 23.90 points to add another feather to her cap.
“It is always nice to have a challenge, which only means you strive to perform better than you. I think Ma’am Rica is an important rival for me at the local level,” the 21-year-old Tokyo-based Alforte, who is also the SEA Karate Federation women’s champion, said.
Samantha Veguillas, daughter of former national standout Chino Veguillas, bagged the bronze medal after tallying 22.70 points.
World championship quarterfinalist Jeremy Nopre ruled the men’s kata with 23.50 points ahead of silver medalist Felix Calipusan settled for silver (22.90) and Giovanni (22.50).
Over at the Philsports pool, Bulacan tanker Rafael Barreto fell short of sweeping all of his five events after winding up fifth in the boys’ 18-over 50-meter breaststroke with a time of 29.60 seconds.
Santiago City’s Jalil Sephraim Taguinod won the event clocking in at 29.02 seconds.
A member of the national team, Barreto had earlier bagged his fourth gold in the boys’ 18-over 200-meter freestyle in 1:53.05 while Ormoc City’s Atasha dela Torre secured her third mint in winning the girls’ 18-over 100-meter butterfly event.
Completing a golden treble at the nearby Philsports oval was Davao City’s Lyca Catubig, who topped the women’s U20 5,000-meter walk in 28:21.82 while Pasig’s Justin Santo Macuring claimed his second golden finish in the men’s U20 of the same event with a 26:26.23 clocking.
Woman International Master Kylen Mordido of Dasmariñas City secured the blitz women’s gold over Woman Fide Master Cherry Ann Mejia of Taguig via tiebreak after both finished with six points each for her third mint.
Mejia had earlier secured the women’s rapid gold with six points.
The Mandaluyong squad of Francoise Marie Magpily and Ma. Elayza Villa swept both the women’s rapid and blitz events.
