By KRISTEL SATUMBAGA
Veteran Annie Ramirez is now ready for the 2025 World Games after winning the country’s lone gold medal in the 9th Asian Jiu-Jitsu Championships held recently in Amman, Jordan.
The 34-year-old Ramirez asserted her mastery over Kazakhstan’s Galina Duvanova – the same opponent she beat for the gold medal in the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games in China – to rule the women’s jiu-jitsu female -57kg division.
Prior to her golden feat, Ramirez already showed prowess by outclassing earlier rivals in South Korea’s Lee Yu jin, Mongolia’s Narankhishig Baasanjargal and Uzbekistan’s Shakhzoda Azatova.
“No words can truly express how I feel about this competition. Winning gold again at the 9th Asian Ju-Jitsu Championships in Amman, Jordan—just like in 2023—feels surreal. But this year’s win was different. It felt like God’s work,” Ramirez wrote on social media.
“Before I stepped on the mats for the final match, the only thing I prayed for was a clear mind and the ability to give everything I worked for in this journey. That finish—I wasn’t even thinking about doing it. It just… happened,” she added.
Kaila Napolis, who is also seeing action in the World Games slated in August in Chengdu, China, however, fell short in her gold-medal bid and settled for the silver in the adult jiu-jitsu female -52kg.
Napolis, who won the gold in the 2023 World Combat Games and the bronze in the 2022 Asian Games, bowed to 2024 World Jiu-Jitsu Championship silver medalist Im Eon Ju of South Korea.
Also bagging the silver medal was Dylan Chrystle Valmores, who succumbed to Vietnam’s Thi Thanh Truc Nguyen in the finals of the adult jiu-jitsu female +70kg class.
Meanwhile, five Filipino fighters clinched bronze medals after finishing in the semifinals of their respective weight divisions. They were Kimberly Anne Custodio (adult jiu-jitsu female -45kg), Joanne Pauline Tan (adult jiu-jitsu female -70kg), Carlo Angelo Peña (adult jiu-jitsu male -56kg), Santino Luis Luzuriaga (adult jiu-jitsu male -62kg), and Baby Jhen Buzon (adult jiu-jitsu fighting female -52kg).
With their performances, the PH team landed 13th in the overall medal standings with one gold, two silver and five bronze medals.
Kazakhstan expectedly dominated the tournament with 21 gold, 27 silver and 26 bronze medals.
PH’s Southeast Asian rival Thailand came in second with 19 gold, seven silver and nine bronze medals, followed by Vietnam with 11 gold, seven silver and 12 bronze medals.
United Arab Emirates (7-5-10) and South Korea (6-6-9) finished fourth and fifth, respectively.
