Rebecca Cyril Torres, Samantha Veguillas and Ysabelle Arrogante delivered a historic milestone at the Aichi-Nagoya 2026 Asian Games after they clinched a bronze medal in women’s team kata on Tuesday at the Aichi-Nagoya 20th Asian Games at the Toyohashi Gymnasium.
They beat Southeast Asian rival Thailand’s Ramitar Terananon, Monsicha Sakulrattanatara and Phatcharin Plangplai, 4-1, for the Philippines’s first-ever medal in team kata event in the Asian Games.
On Sunday, Princess Catindig, Noelle Mañalac and Christy Sanosa bagged bronze in soft tennis not only capturing the Philippines’s first medal in these games but also securing the sport’s first medal in the quadrennial multi-sport competition.
The Filipina karatekas set the tone early with a flawless 5-0 sweep of Cambodia’s Sreynuch Puthea, Oun Sreyda and That Chhenghorng, but went down to a 0-5 loss to powerhouse Iran in the semifinals.
‘We dared not think which team we were up against,’ Arrogante said. ‘What was important was we got the medal.’
The emotional triumph was the culmination of years of quiet sacrifice.
‘It has been a long journey. The team has been through so much,’ an emotional Torres said. ‘We suffered losses after losses over the years, but we kept on performing, fighting to the end.’
Adding fuel to their fire was the news they received just a day prior that the Philippines officially qualified for the Karate World Cup this November in Hangzhou.
‘We were inspired by that development and that rubbed off here [team kata],’ Arrogante said.
Head Coach Sonny Montalvo commended his athletes for their immense dedication, highlighting how the girls temporarily left their families and put their university studies on hold just to train.
The trio also credited their success to the unwavering support of their coaches and officials, specifically former Karate Pilipinas president the late Pocholo Veguillas, father of current president Richard Lim, also Team Philippines chef de mission in these games.
Karate has contributed consecutive bronze medals in the Asian Games starting with Junna Tsukii in Jakarta 2018 and Sakura Alforte in Hangzhou 2023.
Alforte, an individual kata specialist, missed this year’s Asiad due to a new ruling requiring all squad members to compete in the team event.