KARATEKAS from the Association for the Advancement of Karatedo (AAK) Philippines finished fifth place in the 7th World Goju-kai Karatedo Championships held in British Columbia, Canada, over the weekend.
The 14-strong team came up with a medal haul of 7-5-11 (gold-silver-bronze) in the four-day competition that fielded around 600 karatekas from more than 30 countries.
Leading AAK Philippines’ charge was Paolo Gorospe, who won two gold medals in the 7-9 years old kata and kumite events.
The rest of the country’s gold medalists were Bunkai Ricca Torres and Nicole Dantes (women’s double kata), Junna Tsukii (women’s open kumite), Matthea Lazo (kumite 12-13 years old), Adam Bondoc (juniors kumite 76kg division) and Sakura Alforte (cadets kumite – 48kg division).
According to AAK head instructor and head coach Richard Lim, Japan topped the medal tally followed by South Africa, Indonesia, Hungary and the Philippines.
Last month, AAK Philippines bagged the overall title in the 37th Karatedo Goju-Kai Singapore International Championships, where it won a total of 36 medals, 12 of them were golds.