Philippine karatedo officials to send 10 karatekas, one coach to Tehran late this month

Aiming for a golden performance in the Southeast Asian Games, karatedo officials have decided to sharpen the skills of their athletes in Iran.

Karatedo chief Joey Romasanta said 10 karatekas and one coach would benefit from the foreign exposure that would allow them to spar and rub elbows with the most competitive karate masters and practitioners in the continent.

The 1st vice president of the Philippine Olympic Committee said they’re scheduled to leave late January for Tehran and return early April for the first phase of the SEA Games buildup due December in Myanmar.

“We’re targeting at least three gold medals and we can only achieve this if we start preparing early,” said Romasanta, president of the Philippine Karatedo Federation.

Expecting to leave Jan. 22-25 pending the approval of the Philippine Sports Commission are 2011 SEA Games bronze medalists OJ Delos Santos (men’s individual kata) and Mae Soriano (kumite 55kg) along with Rexor Romaquin, Nino Franco, Mic Badil, Raquel Luzares, Joanna Ylanan, Princess Sicangco and Engene Stoner.

Philippine Karatedo Federation secretary general Raymund Lee said the karatekas are set to participate in an 11-nation meet the PKF is planning to host in April. They will go back to Iran a month later to undergo another four months of preparation prior to the games.

Though the Philippines captured one silver (men’s kumite) and six bronze medals in Indonesia, including one bronze in the women’s team kumite. /inquirer