Nine young karate athletes from Nagpur have been selected to represent India at the 9th Cadet, Junior, Under-21 & Senior South Asia Karate Championship and the inaugural Under-14 South Asia Karate Cup. The international event is set to take place from July 2 to 6 at the Sugathadasa Indoor Stadium in Colombo, Sri Lanka.
The selected participants are affiliated with the Karate-Do Association of Nagpur District, Mitsuya-Kai Hayashi-ha Shito-Ryu Karate-Do India, and MOD – The Fight & Fitness Dojo, Dharampeth. The contingent will compete under the mentorship of coach Shihan Emmanuel Philip.
The athletes include:
- Arya Panpaliya (Under-11): Kata and Kumite (37kg)
- Trishna Kamble (Under-11): Kumite (31kg)
- Aashvi Mohota (Under-10): Kata and Kumite (33kg)
- Raghav Sahil Bhangde (Under-12): Kata and Kumite (25kg)
- Shivansh Shyamsundar Singh (Under-10): Kata and Kumite (29kg)
- Anannya Saurabh Jain (Under-10): Kata and Kumite (30kg)
- Saana Anupam Bhusari (Under-10): Kata and Kumite (25kg)
- Aadi Anupam Bhusari (Under-13): Kata and Kumite (45kg)
- Darshee Jinay Khara (Under-8): Kata and Kumite (25kg)
The championship is organised by the South Asian Karate Federation (SAKF) and hosted by the Sri Lanka Karate-Do Federation (SLKF) under the Sri Lankan Ministry of Sports. The event will be held in coordination with the Karate India Organisation (KIO). A contingent of around 160 Indian players and 70 officials and referees from KIO is participating in the tournament.
The Nagpur athletes expressed their gratitude to Hanshi Dr Zakir Khan, Head of Mitsuya-Kai Hayashi-ha Shito-Ryu Karate-Do India, and Coach Emmanuel Philip for their continued support and guidance.
Before their departure, the players were given a warm send-off. Present on the occasion were Dr Zakir Khan, Shihan Emmanuel Philip, Shihan Sachin Lohakare (General Secretary, Karate-Do Association of Nagpur), along with Shihan Kiran Yadav, Shihan Rahul Yadav, Shihan Akshay Pathrabe, and Shihan Anwar Ali.
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