Filipino rookie Sophia Nicole Novino delivered a courageous performance against a seasoned international campaigner before settling for a silver medal in the women's youth -47kg division of the 11th Asia-Oceania Sambo Championships presented by the Philippine Sports Commission, Wednesday night at the Ninoy Aquino Stadium.
Making her debut in a major international tournament, the 17-year-old Novino stood toe-to-toe with Kazakhstan’s Karakat Rakhybay, a two-time World Youth Sambo Championships silver medalist, and held her rival to a 1-1 deadlock early in the match.
Rakhybay, who won silver medals in the 2024 and 2025 World Youth Championships in Larnaca, Cyprus and Bogor, Indonesia, respectively, eventually relied on her experience, pinning Novino with just 24 seconds remaining in the four-minute final to secure the victory.
Despite the loss, Novino’s silver medal stands as the best finish by a Filipino athlete so far in the tournament organized by the Pilipinas Sambo Federation Inc.
The host nation earlier collected three bronze medals on opening day and added three more yesterday through Johan Matthew San Miguel, Daniel Justin Virtudazo and Julian Henry Flores in the junior men's combat sambo events in the -58kg, -88kg and -98kg divisions, respectively.
"Hindi lang po ito malaking achievement para sa akin kundi malaking learning experience din," said Novino, who became emotional after the match and only later learned she had faced one of the world's top youth sambo athletes.
"At least nakakuha rin ako ng isang point laban sa isang napakalakas na kalaban. First step pa lang ito at hindi ako susuko," added the UE judo varsity standout.
National team coach Jerry Legaspi praised Novino's effort despite her limited experience in the sport.
"This is her first major international sambo tournament, but Sophia performed very well. Maganda ang ipinakita niya against a very strong opponent. She put on a good show and I am proud of her," said Legaspi.
"She is relatively new to sambo and is still adjusting from a judo background, but she will learn from this experience and definitely come back stronger next time."
The Philippines will pin its hopes on defending women's sport sambo +80kg champion Sydney Sy, who is set to compete today in the four-day tournament backed by Victory Liner.
Live coverage of the 11th Asia-Oceania Sambo Championships is available via streaming on sambo.live and through the official Pilipinas Sambo Federation and PSC Facebook pages.
