Kicking high in the sky! The otherwise calm and peaceful, the suburb of Mulund was abuzz with the kids queuing up for showing their fighting spirit through Karate during a recently concluded international Karate tournament. The brainchild behind bringing these children from various countries was Shotokan karate-do Federation, run by Sensei Chaitanya Sawant. It was an open tournament and about 350 students participated from India, Sri Lanka, Malaysia and Japan. On one hand it was an exchange of culture for these children of cross-countries, and on the other hand, they also honed their skills on Karate and showed their mantle. “Toki means give the opportunity. We like to give opportunity to those who like to develop their skills in Karate. This is second time we invited Japanese karate experts for develop karate art in India,” said Sawant. The renowned Karate player of Japan Kancho Kenichi Fukamizu was a special invitee for the event. On the occasion, he said, “I had come to India six years ago. I have been to Madhya Pradesh and Bangaluru. In my opinion, India is leading into the Karate education and should continue the same.” Z.A. Rauf, the coach of Sri Lankan team was also delighted to be at the tournament. “India is a very nice country. The people here are very good and warm. However, I feel that the government should participate more in promoting the sport of Karate.” The winners were given the cash prize of Rs 25,000, whereas the runner-ups was awarded with Rs 15,000. In the men’s open Kumite, the first four winners were Naveen Raj V from Malaysia, Saket Pandey and John from India and M. D. Faizal from Sri Lanka. Similarly, in women’s open Kumite, first three were Indians including Ankita Maurya, Sonal Patil and Pooja Shinde. Aishwarya from Sri Lanka was the fourth winner. Aditya Dhepe, won Bronze Medal in under 6 Competition. His father Amol Dhepe said, “Aditya joined Karate coaching just a one month ago. Initially, we put him in Karate only to increase his concentration and confidence, but now after seeing its popularity we want him to continue with this sport.” Nevin Raj, 24-year old from Malaysia who visited India for the first time, and won Gold on the first day said, “I’m enjoying my stay in India. I can also see the players are well trained and it is tough to fight with them." The 16-year old Faizal from Sri Lanka said, “I must thank the organisation for holding this event. There are good players and they (Indian counterparts) have techniques. They should practice and should not cry. It is not allowed to cry in Sri Lanka.”
Posted on: Thu, 04 Jul 2013 08:33:34 +0000
Trending Topics
Recently Viewed Topics
© 2015