MANILA – Ilongga Kimberly Anne Custodio took home a gold medal for Team Philippines in the 2022 JJIF Jiu-Jitsu World Championship on Wednesday evening at the Ju-Jitsu Arena in Zayed Sports City in Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.
The Oton, Iloilo native clinched the top prize in the women’s -45 kilogram division by scoring a tight 6-4 victory over Kacie Pechrada Tan of Thailand in the gold medal game.
Custodio, a product of Carpe Diem Philippines and MDS Jiu-Jitsu Iloilo, opened her campaign with a 14-0 triumph over hometown bet Hamdah Al Shkeili in the quarterfinals round.
The Ilongga jiu-jitsu athlete followed her victory against Al Shjkeilii with another 14-0 domination over Sakaew Tadaporn of Thailand during the semifinals round of the said weight class.
Philippine jiu-jitsu team head coach Allan Co was not surprised with the gold medal feat of Custodio, citing the latter’s serious preparations the past few months.
“We really have a good chance of winning medals here so Kimberly’s gold medal feat was not surprising,” Co said. “We prepared hard for this, aside from the national team trials, the team competed in the Thailand Grand Prix.”
Unlike Custodio, other Filipino bets Philip Cristopher Alegre and Ashley Jeraine Baluyot failed to advance in the next round of men’s -77kg and women’s -52kg divisions, respectively.
Overall, there were six Filipino jiu-jitsu athletes — led by two-time Southeast Asian Games gold medal winner Margarita Ochoa, Jenna Kaila Napolis and Jan Cortez — participated in the tournament.
Custodio, who was nicknamed as “The Armbar Queen,” is expected to vie for her second consecutive triumph when she competes in the 2022 Jiu-Jitsu World Pro to be held also in the said country from Nov. 17 to 20.
After her two competitions in UAE, the former 2019 Asian Championships bronze medal winner is expected to return to her hometown to accompany her coach Myron Mangubat for a jiu-jitsu seminar next month./PN
