Jamie Lim overcame a slow start to dominate for her second Southeast Asian Games gold with a 3-1 win over hometown favorite Vann Chakriya in the final of the women’s under-61 kg Kumite on Sunday at the Chory Changvar Convention Center Hall A in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.
Lim went down a yuko in an early exchange of blows but got credited with a yuko herself after a successful video review. Two straight punches from the 201 Asian Championships runner-up gave her the win and the gold medal.
The 2019 women’s plus-61 kg champion had to go through two bouts before getting a shot at the title, dominating Vietnam’s Thi Ngoan Nguyen 5-0 in the quarterfinals.
She then took care of Malaysian Siti Nur Azwani in the semifinals at 6-3. Lim bounced back from the previous edition’s finish, where she pocketed the bronze.
“When I am in London, I go to the gym and then study. Iiyak ako sa stress at pagod. Pagkagaling sa gym, uwi, aral, tulog, so hindi na po ako nakakalabas,” the current Imperial College masters student said.
The other karatekas could not follow her lead, as the four other finalists ended with silver medals.
Cambodian Virak Bouth Chrun edged John Matthew Manantan 2-1 in the men’s under-67 kg, while Ivan Agustin lost a similarly tight game against Indonesia’s Sandi Firmansih 0-1 in the men’s under-84 kg final.
On the women’s side, Remon Villanueva absorbed a defeat in a 7-4 slugfest that went to Vietnam’s Thi Huong Dinh in the under-68 kg category.
Meanwhile, Arianne Brito took a 1-3 loss from Thailand’s Kewalin Songklin.
The national karatekas still improved from their eight-bronze finish from last year’s Games with a two-gold, five-silver, one-bronze haul in these Games, with the team kumite events still at hand.
