Veguillas Memorial Cup slated Jan. 26-28

Karate. (Pixabay photo)

MANILA — The Philippine Karatedo Federation (PKF) has announced on Sunday the staging of the Manuel Veguillas Memorial Cup from January 26 to 28 at the Mall of Asia’s Music Hall.

According to national coach Richard Lim, the three-day event is in honor of Association for the Advancement of Karatedo (AAK) founder Manuel “Pocholo” Veguillas III, who passed away last year.

Lim, a former national athlete who has won medals for the country, said Japan, South Korea, Thailand, Indonesia, Singapore, Brunei, Malaysia and India confirmed their participation in the tournament.

Lim said PKF members are joining the tournament, which is open to all karate clubs. Registration is ongoing and will end on January 14.

A training camp for advance kumite wll be conducted by Shin Tsukii Sense on January 26.

The competition for all events in Cadets, Juniors, Seniors and Veterans will be on January 27 while the events in the 13-under category will be held on January 28.

According to the AAK website, Veguillas was considered as the father of Philippine karate. He founded the PKF after the Southeast Asian Games in 1987 and served as its president until 2000. Under his leadership, the Philippines won 72 medals, including 41 golds, in various international tournaments.

In 2004, Veguillas established the Philippine Skating Union (PSU).

Under his leadership, PSU has produced figure skater Michael Christian Martinez, the first Filipino to compete in the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics.