Junna Tsukii sees a brighter future for the Philippine karate national team following her historic success in the World Games.
Tsukii, who bagged gold medal in the -50kg category of kumite in the World Games, expressed gratitude to the Philippine Sports Commission, Philippine Olympic Committee, and Karate Pilipinas, for the continuous support and said she "cannot fight if I'm alone."
"Before I got this medal, many times I cried," said Tsukii, recalling that she was emotional even before reaching the semifinals of the World Games. "But I hope everything's working . I hope this is just the beginning of everything for our karate future."
"I don't want to think that this is the best result for us. Maybe next year we can get more and after five years, 10 years later, we can have world champions. I'm sure," added Tsukii.
The 30-year-old Tsukii, who is now the federation's icon, also hopes that the next generation will be ready to fill in her shoes in the far future when she hangs up her gloves.
But retirement won't be happening anytime soon for Tsukii as she is set to compete in the Karate1 Premier League in Baku, Azerbaijan in September.
Karate Pilipinas president Richard Lim, for his part, also thanked and commended the federation for a job well done.
"We owe everything to everybody, the coaching staff helping each other, the atletes cooperating with the coaches, and the referees as well," said Lim. "There's a connection between each, kanya kanyang office 'yan... lahat 'yan importante.
"But that's what's nice about Karate Pilipinas. Mayroong coordination," he added. "'Di naman lahat yan perfect but we really try to do this in a manner that everyone will be happy and everybody will pitch their share of expertise. So everybody will have a voice." ###