Saguga Shotokan lift men’s karate title

title went to saguga shotokan style.
The men’s teams was made up of seven karatekas and the women’s teams consisted of three participants.
The team with the most bout victories were the winners.
The tournament, which had been off the radar for sometime due to due to various challenges ,attracted participants from different karate styles and clubs such as shotokan, kofukan, dentokan, Gweru Sports Club and Dominican Convent High School.
The different styles and clubs competed in the men and women’s kata and kumite.
The saguga shotokan, led by David Dube, who is also the national team captain, came first in the men’s kumite ahead of Gweru Sports Club A team who came second.
Dentokan and Gweru Sports Club B were tied on third position.
In the kata events Kofukan style from Harare were the winners while shotokan from Kwekwe came second and Gweru Sports Club settled for third place. In the women’s category dentokan Dominican Convent High School were crowned the champions in the kata competition.
They also came second in the kumite section, which was won by Shotokan Midlands.
Zimbabwe Karate Union technical director, Paul Danisa, was impressed with the turnout for the competition.
“The tournament went well. We had over 60 karatekas from Midlands, Harare and Triangle. We also had some fighters from Botswana.
“I think the highlight of the day was the return of Eugene Moody to the referees panel. He is the best in terms of referees in the region and it was a welcome return.
“We also had Ndabezihle Mazibuko from Bulawayo and it shows the province is coming back into karate.
“This was an inter-style tournament team event which had not occurred for a while so this was a comeback.
“The level of competition was first class and having an international flavour with the karatekas from Botswana it was good because they are considered the best in the region but we managed to beat them,” said Danisa.
Danisa said now that they have managed to revive the inter-styles championships they hope to continue holding the event.
ZKU president, Joe Rugwete, shared the same sentiments as he said the tournament was a success. The tournament was part of the Zone Six championships preparations to be held in Botswana later this year. The championships were originally scheduled for South Africa.