Fil-Japanese karateka Junna Tsukii won a bronze medal in the World Karate Federation 2019 Karate 1 Series 1 tournament in Santiago, Chile last weekend which pushed her to the top 15 in the world rankings.
Tsukii won the women’s kumite – 50 kg by beating Shiau-Shuang gu of Taiwan. She said she was grateful for the podium finish but hopes to improve in future tournaments.
“I’m happy that I got a medal, but I’m still not convinced of this color. I beat the third ranked player in the world in the third round, and I beat the sixth ranked player in the world in the quarterfinals. I almost went to the final, but I lost (in the semifinals) this time,” said Tsukii.
The podium finish pushed her closer to her dream of representing the Philippines to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Tsukii overwhelmed Shimada Haruka of Japan in the Round of 64. She subdued Klement Karmen of Hungary in the Round of 32 and beat Shara Hubrich (ranked 3rd in the world) of Germany in the Round of 16.
She survived the challenge of Kateryna Kryva (ranked 6th in the world) of Ukraine in the Quarterfinals before bowing to Yorgelis Salazar of Venezuela in the Semifinals.
She preserved a podium finish with the victory over her Taiwanese opponent.
Tsukii, who recently turned 29, also bagged the bronze in Series A competition in Montreal, Canada and Barcelona, Spain. Her consecutive victories pushed her up the world rankings in karate.
“I will be in the top 15 in the world ranking. In the next seven Olympic qualifying tournaments, if I win two medals again, I will be in the top ten. I’ll aim first for top ten in the world,” Tsukii said
The WKF Karate 1-Series A is a world-class competition that provides karatekas around the world with more competitive opportunities to shine at the highest level.
Tsukii will fly to Moscow, Russia next week to participate in the WKF Premier League as she continues to pursue that berth in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. Tsukii is also preparing for the 2019 Southeast Asian Games to be held in the Philippines late this year.