The Philippines has another world champion in the fastest-growing martial arts sport of jiu-jitsu as former Ilongga beauty queen Kimberly Anne Custodio topped the women’s -45kg division of the 2022 JJIF Jiu-Jitsu World Championship late Wednesday night in Abu Dhabi, UAE.
Custodio of Carpe Diem Brazilian Jiu-jitsu Manila, barely beat tough Kacie Pechrada Tan of Thailand in the finals, 6-4, after blanking all her previous three opponents. With tears of joy on her face, she hugged her teammates after the electrifying gold-medal win.
Earlier, Custodio blanked another Thai in Sakaew Tadaporn, 14-0, in the semifinals; dominated Hamdah Al Shkeili of host UAE, 14-0, in the quarters and beat Romanian Adina Iulia Mihaila,9-0, in the Round of 16.
Pechrada took the silver while Tadaporn and Shkeili settled for a bronze medal.
Two other Filipino bets were not as fortunate as Philip Cristopher Alegre and Ashley Jeraine Baluyot lost their opening matches in the men’s -77kg and women’s -52kg divisions, respectively.
Custodio, who was crowned Miss Iloilo Dinagyang in 2004, was the silver medalist in the 2016 IBJJF World Championship in California, USA.
Other female members of the eight-member Philippine team include multi-titled Meggie Ochoa, who will compete in the -48kg, and Jenna Kaila Napolis (-57kg) in the women’s side.
Other members of the men’s squad are Jan Vincent Cortez (-62kg), Brendon Max Pudan (-69kg), and Myron Myles Mangubat (-62kg.)
Ochoa, a back-to-back SEA Games champion, was a three-time world champion and two-time Asian Championships winner. She also bagged the bronze medal at the 2018 Asian Games in Indonesia and the gold at the 2016 Asian Beach Games in Vietnam.
Napolis was a silver medalist at the 2019 and 2022 SEA Games, 2018 Abu Dhabi World Tour Grand Slam (United Kingdom) and the 2017 Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games (Turkmenistan), and a bronze-medal winner at the 2016 Asian Beach Games (Vietnam).