Cebuano AJ ALA Villamor, 11, clinches a bronze medal on Aug. 16, 2019 in his first international karate competition held in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia. |Contributed Photo
CEBU CITY, Philippines – Cebu’s AJ ALA Villamor bagged a bronze medal in his first international tournament — the 1st Shureido Cup International Karate Championships held at the Likas Sports Complex in Kota Kinabalu, Sabah, Malaysia from August 12 until Sunday, August 18, 2019.
Villamor is still 11 years old but he competed in the 14 years old advance kata category and went up against 15 other competitors mostly from Malaysia.
He had to win twice before clinching the bronze on August 16.
Villamor is no stranger to contact sports being the son of ALA Boxing Gym trainer Edito ALA Villamor, who used to fight in world championship bouts.
The young Villamor had trained under Sensei Rhodee Reynes Saavedra and AUK Sempai for two years.
The Grade 6 student of Pagsabungan Elementary School in Mandaue City prepared for this event for seven months following a hiatus to focus on his schooling.
Prior to this competition, Villamor joined the first National Karate Pilipinas where he bagged a gold medal in the Kumite.
Next up for the young martial artist is the 7th Karatedo Goju-Kai Asific Championships and Technical Seminar 2019, which will be held in Lapu-Lapu City from September 26 to October 1.