DAVAO City's Heleina Dominique So of Karate Pilipinas B clinched the silver medal of the female under-12 -40kg event on Friday, September 8, in the ongoing 2023 Thailand Open.
So, the granddaughter of the late sportsman Kim Cheng lost to Nepal's Sangyuna Magar of New Shape Karate Academy in their championship match. The Nepalese defeated the Dabawenya, 1-0, to capture the gold medal.
Thailand's Nattanicha Kritayapirom of Boy Gym pocketed the bronze.
So also shared the bronze in female under-12 kata with Alison Rupal Xaxa of the Karate India Organisation of India. Tha karatekas Kaewsuwan Netchanok bagged the gold.
Association for the Advancement of Karatedo (AAK) Davao head Rommel Tan said, "So is the lone representative of Davao City as part of the Karate Pilipinas team together with other athletes."
So, a 10-year-old Davao Christian High School student was the 29th So Kim Cheng Sports Foundation Annual Sports Awards 2023. She learned karatedo as a sport when she was four years old.
She just wanted to train for fun and then eventually competed from one tournament to another - locally, regionally, nationally, and internationally.
During the awarding ceremony in July 2023, So underscored that training, discipline, sacrifice, and persistence became the cornerstones of how she achieved such a feat. MLSA