NAGOYA, Japan — The Philippines secured a historic bronze medal in women’s team kata after Rebecca Cyril Torres, Samantha Veguillas and Ysabelle Arrogante defeated Thailand at the 2026 Aichi-Nagoya Asian Games on Tuesday.
The Philippine trio defeated Thailand’s Ramitar Terananon, Monsicha Sakulrattanatara and Phatcharin Plangplai, 4-1, at the Toyohashi Gymnasium.
The victory gave the Philippines its first Asian Games medal in the women’s team kata event.
The Filipinas opened their campaign with a 5-0 victory over Cambodia’s Sreynuch Puthea, Oun Sreyda and That Chheng before falling to powerhouse Iran, 0-5, in the semifinals.
“We were not thinking about who our opponents were. We just wanted to claim the bronze,” Arrogante said.
Torres described the medal as the result of years of preparation and sacrifice.
“It has been a long journey. My teammates went through many difficulties,” an emotional Torres said. “There were many losses over the years, but we just kept performing and fighting until the end.”
The team also drew motivation from the news it received a day before the competition that the Philippines had officially qualified for the Karate World Cup in Hangzhou this November.
Head coach Sonny Montalvo praised the athletes for their commitment, noting that the young karatekas spent time away from their families and continued their university studies while training.
The trio also credited their coaches and officials for their support, particularly the late Pocholo Veguillas, former president of Karate Pilipinas and father of current president Richard Lim, who is also serving as one of Team Philippines’ chefs de mission for the Asian Games.
The Philippines has now won consecutive bronze medals in karate at the Asian Games, following Junna Tsukii’s medal in Jakarta in 2018 and Sakura Alforte’s bronze in Hangzhou in 2023.
Alforte, an individual kata specialist, did not compete in this year’s Asian Games after a new rule required all members of the squad to participate in the team event.
