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The Philippines’ top karateka Junna Tsukii kicks off the final stretch of her drive for a Tokyo Olympics berth when she sees action in the Karate 1 Premier League, which starts this Friday, March 12, in Istanbul, Turkey.
Tsukii recognizes the high level of competition she will be up against in Turkey, but she remains undaunted.
“They are very strong, but the players I practice with in the training camp in Serbia are also strong. I’m always fighting with the top players and I will just play the way I usually do,” said Tsukii.
The Karate 1 Premiere League is the first international event of the 2021 season.
The previous season was cut short prematurely in the first quarter of 2020 when the World Karate Federation (WKF) was forced to cancel international competitions and Olympic qualifying events.
A stellar cast of karatekas will be converging in Istanbul as they contest precious ranking points that will help boost their quest for automatic Olympic slots.
Tsukii, currently No. 10 in the world rankings in the female kumite -50kg division, will need to be in sharp form as she will face some of the best fighters in her division.
Leading the banner field is former world champion and current world No. 1 Serap Ozcelik Arapoglu of host country Turkey.
Five others who are in the top 10 of the world rankings are also vying for the championship this weekend.
These are world No. 3 and former European Games champion Bettina Plank of Austria, world No. 4 and 2018 World Karate Championships bronze medal winner Sara Bahmanyar of Iran, world No. 5 Radwa Sayed of Egypt, world No. 7 Shara Hubrich of Germany, and Bakhriniso Babaeva of Uzbekistan, who is tied with Tsukii at 10th in the world rankings.
Five other participants of the competition are ranked in the world’s top 20.
The Filipino-Japanese star is targeting to make the Olympic cut via the Asian rankings where the No. 1 will be able to seal a ticket to Tokyo.
Tsukii will only have to overtake Iranian Bahmanyar and world No. 6 Ranran Li of China in the standings as host country Japan is already guaranteed an automatic spot. (READ: Girl power: Who are the women leading PH’s Olympic drive?)
As part of her preparation, Tsukii joined a week-long training camp in Serbia before flying to Turkey for the Karate 1 Premiere League.
It was her second time to pitch camp in the Balkan state. Last November, the 2019 SEA Games gold medalist and 2018 Asian Games bronze medalist also trained in Serbia with other elite karatekas from different countries. – Beatrico Go/Rappler.com
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