Filipino karatekas Ysabella Arwen Varias and Carl Caruana came up short in their respective bronze medal matches on Day 3 of the Karate One Youth League on Saturday at the SM Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
Despite the setbacks, the two emerged as the top local performers so far in the international tournament sanctioned by the World Karate Federation and organized by the Karate Pilipinas Sports Federation, Inc.
Varias bowed to Romania’s Momanu Alexandra, 0-4, in the bronze medal match of the cadet kumite female -61-kilogram division.
The 15-year-old Filipino earlier impressed after upsetting WKF-1 representative Mariaa Sereda, 1-0, in her opening bout before advancing through the repechage round.
“Nakakao-verwhelm po na makasali dito sa tournament kasi lahat ng kalaban magagaling,” said Varias.
“Medyo kinabahan po ako sa laban sa bronze at hindi ko nagawa yung dapat kong gawin katulad ng sa first match against the Russian laban sa Romanian,” added the incoming Grade 10 student from Paco Catholic School.
Her coach, Oliver Manalac, believed nerves played a major factor in the loss.
“Ysabella could have used her nervousness in fighting against the Romanian but she was stiff and tentative. But this young girl learn from that experience and be better in the long run,” Manalac said.
He added that competing in both kumite and kata may have affected Varias physically.
“She might have been a bit stiff at the start of her fights since different muscles are being used for the two karate disciplines,” he explained.
Meanwhile, Caruana absorbed a 1-9 defeat against WKF-1’s Levon Shaishian in the bronze medal bout of the junior kumite male +76kg category.
Despite giving up a significant height advantage, the 17-year-old Filipino remained proud of his campaign.
“Mataas talaga yung kalaban kaya mahirap tamaan. But I am proud that I was able to get here,” said Caruana.
The young karateka also dedicated his performance to his parents, who borrowed money to support his trip to Manila.
“Kaya dini-dedicate ko itong laban ko dito sa mga magulang na nangutang para makarating ako dito sa Manila sa pamamagitan ng barko. I owe this achievement to them,” he said.
The post Varias, Caruana fall short of medals in Karate One Youth League first appeared on Fastbreak.
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