Lim goes for World Karate bronze

MANILA, Philippines — The Philippines’ Jamie Lim lost to Anita Serogina yesterday but stayed in contention for a podium finish after the Ukrainian made the women’s kumite -61-kilogram finals in the World Karate Championship at the Hamdan Arena in Dubai.

Lim, 24, bested Alana Kochieva of the Russian Federation, 4-2, then Laura Sivert of France and Sarara Shimada of Japan via majority decisions but ran into the more seasoned Serogina, the reigning World Premier League champion, and fell in the quarterfinals, 2-1.

Serogina then advanced to the gold medal round against 2018 world champion Jovana Prekovic of Serbia, sending Lim to a repechage match for the bronze set at 2 p.m. today (Philippine time).

Whatever happens in the repechage, the Southeast Asian Games gold medalist has proven herself worthy of a spot in the event that drew over a thousand participants including several world champions.

“It’s her first time and she made a very strong impression. Everybody was surprised she beat Olympians,” said Karate Pilipinas president Richard Lim, who heads the national team in Dubai.

Fil-Jap Junna Tsukii was taking her turn in the -50kg class at press time.

The 30-year-old Tsukii, a SEA Games gold medal winner like Lim, is one of the favorites being the World No. 2 in her weight category.