14 Feb 2022

Gregory Inger defied odds by winning the Under 21 individual kata during the Karate Youth Championship for the southern region in Gaborone on Saturday.

Inger, who was doing the Ohaa Dai kata, displayed all the technical aspects required to garner more points against Tokelo Makepe.

Inger said in an interview that, although he managed to salvage a win, he was not happy with performance given that he had not been training properly due to an injury.

“I have realised that my competitors have been training and I was rusty and my performance was generally below par,” he said.

In the Under 12 category, Kutlwano Atlhopeng, caught attention of the audience.

In the elimination stage, she did Goshisho Kata where she outclassed Lethabo Kepaletswe winning 5-0.

She continued with her good performance in the semi-final where she won 5-0 against Ogaufi Ramotshwarapula.

In the final, although she was against a tough opponent in Princess Makwati, she won Koskondai Kata 3-2.

Her coach, Kebokile Mangope, said he was happy with execution of her kata, although she looked rusty owing to non-activity of sport for the past two years.

“Although she won, there is a lot of work to be done so that she can do her best in the coming finals,” she said.

The 12-13 girls individual Kumite was won by Princess Makwati followed by Cindy Simpipeng, while Seabe Samometso and Naledi Mlandu were both in the third position.

Individual 6-7 Kumite boys was clinched by Kendric Sheers, position two and three went to Unapo Kgosidiile and Tamela Kgosiele.

All those who won from both south and north region will compete in the finals billed for Gaborone where the national team will be selected.

During the official opening of the competition, Botswana Karate Association (BOKA), president, Tshepo Bathai, said they decided to hold the Youth Championships in Gaborone and Francistown to have a larger number of participants.

He said all the karatekas who did well in the first round from the southern and northern region would still have to battle it out in the second round leading to selection of the national team.

Furthermore, he said on February 26, they would host the senior championship, which will see participation of Karatekas from other countries  such as Zambia, Zimbabwe and South Africa.

He said Botswana was Japanese grassroots development, hence assistance with Dojo which started with phase one in 2010 while phase two was done in 2017.

Ambassador of Japan, Takahashi Hoshiyama, said over the years, karate had gained popularity and was now played in more than 150 countries.

He said in 2020 when Japan hosted the Olympics, karate was part of the official programme for the first time in the Olympic Games history.

“That alone was a clear indication that karate was gaining recognition in all spheres of major competitions and I believe karate could become a more popular sport worldwide in the near future. In that sense you are the pioneers of Karate in the country’s sports history,” he said.

Furthermore Hoshiyama said during his arrival in Botswana, he was surprised to learn that Karate was a popular sport in the country, given that the country was far from Japan.

The Ambassador said karate was Japan’s traditional sport, and was said to have originated in the Southern part of Japan around 100 years ago as a form of self-defence.

He said his government assisted Botswana in the expansion of Dojo as part of the cooperation to promote Japan-Botswana friendship through karate. ENDS