Karate wonderkid recovers from injury

Shingirai Madondo | Thursday March 6, 2014 16:43

 

The 16-year-old karate starlet dislocated her left arm three weeks ago while training in Gaborone in preparation for the forthcoming Africa Youth Games (AYG).  The injury caused concern since Senaise is one of the seasoned karatekas in the squad to represent the country in the continental games in May.

She did not travel with the team to the Elite International Open Championships in Durban, South Africa the previous weekend because of the injury. In her absence, Botswana received a rude awakening at the hands of the hosts, Mozambique and Zimbabwe. “I am very happy to have her back in the team. Looking at what happened the previous weekend in Durban, we really missed her experience. She is a motivator to other athletes,” said Tshikare.

Senaise started training on Monday after recovering from injury.  Tshikare said that in the Durban tournament, his charges did not execute what they had been practicing during the training camp. He complained that some of his seasoned karatekas lacked the aggression that they always display during domestic tournaments.

 The team manager, Ezekiel Seru said that with the return of Senaise, expectations are now high that the team will get medals in the AYG. Senaise joined the national team at the tender age of seven has vast experience.

In 2012, she was one of the three Botswana karatekas who attended a one-week training camp in Greece sponsored by the World Karate Federation (WKF).