By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
Junna Tsukii beat Yorgelis Salazar of Venezuela in an all-important match and gave the country its first gold medal in the 2022 World Games in Birmingham, Alabama Friday (Saturday in Manila) after ruling the women’s -50kg division.
With nothing but revenge in mind, the 30-year-old Fil-Japanese beat her Venezuelan rival in the final, 2-0, to avenge her defeat to the very player that mauled her 8-1 in the group stage.
The multi-titled Tsukie started tentatively as she also lost to Spain’s Gema Ozuna Morales.
She posted her lone win with a 6-4 decision over German Shara Hubrich
Despite her 1-2 record, Tsukii still advanced to the semis where she stunned Miho Miyahara of Japan, 4-3,
Tsukii also became the country’s second gold medalist in the World Games after billiards star champion Carlo Biado who ruled the 9-ball men’s singles in the 2017 World Games in Wroclaw, Poland.
