Hayashi-Ha tournament attracts 300 athletes
Mosah Mokganedi | Monday March 17, 2014 12:47
The tournament dubbed Gaborone Open, attracted karatekas from South Africa, Namibia, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Mozambique.
Hayashi-Ha spokesperson Kaene Kago said the competition has grown not only in terms on numbers but also in standard.
He was impressed by the number of participants who graced the event from neighbouring countries.
He attributed the growth of the competition to good organisation of the event.
“Organising a competition of this magnitude is not an easy thing to do, but we always try our best,” he said.
He said they have learnt a lot about organising such events after competiting in big events like the US Open.
The competition was divided into five categories, juniors, novice, intermediate, advanced and elite.
The competition is amongst others used to give exposure to karatekas who have not been able to get into the national teams.
The competition also came at the right time, giving young athletes an opportunity to test their strength ahead of the second Africa Youth Games billed for Gaborone in May.
Officially opening the tournament, the chairperson of Botswana Africa Youth Games Organising Committee (BAYGOC) Tuelo Serufho thanked the sponsors for their continued support despite financial hiccups. Debswana, Nandos, Western Union, Boitekanelo, Mascom, Apex and Properties and Home sponsored the event.
Although all the results had not been compiled at the time of going to press, those released showed that Batswana were doing well at the tournament.
Wonder boy Khaya Groth won a gold and silver in the 16-17 years category in kata and kumiti respectively.
Tirafalo Tsimamma won silver in the Under-21, while South Africa’s Rafael Reed won the gold.
Thato Kgosikoma finished first in the 14-15 years boys’ kata. Oratile Nkhumisang is the gold medalist in the 14-15 years elite kumiti.
In the boys’ 14-15 years kata category, Philip Revaka of Botswana won gold, while another local karateka, Leonard Modise scooped silver medal.