Karatekas vow to retain title

one-day event will feature both semi-contact and full contact styles but each style will have its own competition.
Kuz acting technical director, Kumbirai Musinami, said they were ready to defend their title when they take on karatekas from other full contact styles.
“We have got quite a number of fighters. We have 40 juniors to cover categories from 21kg to 55kg. In the lightweight category we have five fighters that have confirmed but there is also room for other fighters, we are actually meeting again today to finalise the team.
“In the Open weight division Kelly Mtisi is the defending champion and we are quite hopeful he will retain his title.
“In the middleweight there is still competition for places, we have seven fighters and we would have wanted to field four fighters but we will field them all so that they get exposure and experience,” said Musinami.
Musinami said besides Mtisi they will be pinning their hopes on the Mucheni brothers — Austin and Robson — as well as Tinashe Matika.
“We also have upcoming fighters such as Tinashe Matika and he is a very good fighter. He will be competing in the lightweight division for the first time. He is the current junior national champion.
“Our preparations have been very thorough as we have been in camp for the Japan tournament where Samson (Muripo) will be taking part so most of our fighters were training with him, he is our senior and most experienced fighter so it’s been very thorough,” said Musinami.
The Kuz acting technical director said they expect tough challenge from other full contact style as they have been dominating most of the tournaments in the past years.
“I think there is going to be a lot more competition in every category because other groups will be vying for honours in those categories and they have been training hard. There will be stiff competition in every category. IFK have got strong juniors,” added Musinami.
IFK branch chief, Tawanda Mufundisi, said they know what to expect in the tournament.
“We are sending 15 juniors and eight seniors. This competition is getting tough every time and we are expecting tough competition. It’s only the same guys that have been fighting so we know what to expect. We expect not less than five medals, actually we hope to win medals in each category,” said Mufundisi.
The tournament will be graced by the Japanese Ambassador to Zimbabwe, Yonezo Fukuda.