Pitted against a two-time world silver medalist, Pinoy rookie Sophia Nicole Novino gallantly held her own for nearly four minutes before tapping out to Kazakhstan’s Karakat Rakhybay in the women’s youth -47kg final of the 11th Asia-Oceania Sambo Championships, presented by the Philippine Sports Commission, on Wednesday night.
Competing in her first major international tournament, Novino showed no fear against Rakhybay, battling to a 1-1 deadlock early in the match before eventually yielding to her more experienced opponent at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
A back-to-back silver medalist at the World Youth Sambo Championships in 2024 and 2025, held in Larnaca, Cyprus, and Bogor, Indonesia, respectively, Rakhybay secured the victory by pinning Novino with 24 seconds remaining in the four-minute bout, forcing the Filipina to submit.
Despite the loss, Novino’s silver medal stood as the best finish for the host nation, which had earlier collected three bronze medals on the opening day of the competition organized by the Pilipinas Sambo Federation Inc.
(C) PSC
The Philippines added three more bronze medals on Thursday through Johan Matthew San Miguel, Daniel Justin Virtudazo, and Julian Henry Flores in the junior men’s combat sambo division, competing in the -58kg, -88kg, and -98kg weight classes, respectively.
“Hindi lang po ito malaking news sa akin pero malaking learning po,” said Novino, who broke down in tears after the match, initially unaware that she had gone up against one of the world’s top youth sambo athletes in the tournament, which is also being held under the aegis of the National Sports Tourism Inter-Agency Committee led by PSC Chairman Patrick Gregorio.
“Pero at least nakakuha rin ako ng isang point sa isang magaling na kalaban. First step pa lang ito at hindi ako susuko.”
(C) PSC
The 17-year-old University of the East judo standout drew praise from national sambo team coach Jerry Legaspi for her impressive showing despite her lack of international experience.
“This is her first major international sambo tournament, but Sophia did very well. Maganda ang ipinakita niya against a very strong opponent. She put on a good show, so I am proud of her,” Legaspi said.
“She is relatively new to the sport, so naninibago pa coming from a judo background, but she will learn from this experience and definitely will do better next time,” he added.
Set to compete on Friday is the Philippines’ top gold medal hopeful, defending women’s sport sambo +80kg champion Sydney Sy, as the four-day tournament backed by Victory Liner continues.
Live coverage of the 11th Asia-Oceania Sambo Championships is available via livestream at **[www.sambo.live](http://www.sambo.live)** and on the official Pilipinas Sambo Federation Inc. and Philippine Sports Commission Facebook pages.
