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• Jul 08

PASKA Invitational Tournament

On Saturday 14 June, Team PASKA held the PASKA Invitational Tournament at Robinson's Starmills in San Fernando, Pampanga. Eight teams from areas around Central Luzon participated, coming from places such as Manila, Cavite and Subic. This tournament was a wonderful opportunity for participants to compete in a friendly and non-threatening environment while learning the rules of a tournament. As Kumite matches were taking place Sensei Joel M Madrona, the Founder and Chief Instructor of PASKA, explained the scoring procedures and judging so the audience could clearly understand the bouts.

The Lexus Hotel/Condos is a proud sponsor of Team PASKA and was delighted to be able to assist with this tournament. In our role as team sponsor, Lexus has denoted 100 pieces of matting (or tatami) to PASKA in order for the team to use these for training purposes as well as to take to competitions.

The tournament was an overall triumph for Team PASKA as many players participated in both Kata and Kumite with great success. Special congratulations must go to Kimverly and John Madrona for their wonderful efforts to each win Gold medals in both the Kata and Kumite divisions.

Highlights of the day included Kristoffer Espinosa and Jordan Dungca's Kumite Gold medal match. Both players fought hard as the score see-sawed, with each of the boys taking the lead at different times. In the end, Jordan's size advantage allowed him to take the match, denying Kristoffer his second Gold medal of the day. Rembranth Cuenco's Gold medal match also saw him against a taller and stronger opponent but this did not stop him from fighting hard throughout. At the end of regular time, the scores were locked and the match went into an additional "sudden death" round. When this time had finished with no scores being added to either player's tally, it came down to the Judge's decision. After a split decision from the three judges, the referee awarded the match to Rembranth's opponent.

All players should be very proud of the way they participated in this tournament as the true spirit of karate was shown at all times. When mistakes were made on the mat during the Kata tournament, cheers were heard from all sections of the crowd, encouraging the player to continue. After a misguided hit in the Kumite competition, players were encouraged to stand once more and continue their match. All participants supported one another, irrespective of their clubs. It was a joy to see so many players enjoying themselves and making friends throughout this tournament as they truly seemed to understand the underlying principles of karate. As Sensei Joel says, "I run these tournaments for the players, not for me."

At the end of the day when the scores were tallied, PASKA found themselves at the top of the competition, with 9 Gold, 8 Silver and 5 Bronze medals. The cheers that erupted at this announcement could nearly be heard all the way back in Angeles City! Congratulations to PASKA on running a successful tournament! We at The Lexus Hotel / Condos are proud to be a part of such a worthy project.

Tally:
Gold - 9
Silver - 8
Bronze - 5