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| AZ Pamaybay barely missed out on clinching a medal in the Karate Youth League One. Avito Dalan/PNA |
PASAY—AZ Pamaybay came barely a minute short of winning a medal in the Karate One Youth League and bowed to Soibov Solijon in their cadet kumite male -57 kg repechage final on Thursday at the SM Mall of Asia Arena.
Pamaybay, the reigning Southeast Asian Karate Federation Championships gold medalist, missed out on the bronze in the global stage as Solijon scored a crucial yuko within the final 60 seconds to clinch a 2-1 win.
Solijon drew first blood in the bronze medal match, which earned him the first point tiebreaker should the match end in a draw.
Solijon lost the advantage after incurring his fourth warning, but he held his ground defensively to keep Pamaybay from scoring the needed waza-ari or ippon to steal the win.
The loss dampened Pamaybay, who was fresh from breaking the heart of Artur Avakian right before the clock read zeroes.
With the match tied at 7-all with 0.9 seconds remaining, Pamaybay scored a quick yuko right at the final horn to eliminate Avakian with only Solijon to beat to clinch the Philippines' first medal in the four-day karate event.
However, Solijon was just too much for Pamaybay.
"I'll accept it because I don't have any power to play there," Pamaybay said after bowing to Solijon.
"That loss is a very good lesson for me because I have to adapt to my mistakes.
The Pamaybay-Solijon had to be interrupted for a few minutes due to a technical difficulty when the computerized scoreboard went off, and Pamaybay admitted that the officials' timeout somehow slowed him down.
"I wanted to end the fight quickly," he further said.
Following the lessons he got from facing world-class junior karatekas, Pamaybay shifts his focus to the Palarong Pambansa, where the incoming Grade 10 student from Tagum City will compete for Davao Region, and his SEAKF Championships title defense.
