Rivers Karate Team Ready For N’Delta Tourney

Rivers State Karate Association has put in place necessary arrangement to participate in the forthcoming second Niger Delta Open national Karate Championships billed to hold from 5th – 12th of this month in Asaba, delta State.

This was disclosed at the weekend by the Chief Coach of the Rivers State Karate Association leader Yacob Kingsley O. Ewelie in a chat with Tidesports at the Alfred Diete-Spiff Sports Complex, Port Harcourt.

According to him, his athletes were poised to win laurels and clinch top positions at the competition, saying that, they had prepared intensively and were ready for the championship.

He noted that the championship would be used to select talented karatekas and groom them ahead of the forthcoming All African Games.

Meanwhile, the competition is being organised by the Karate Federation of Nigeria (KFN), in conjunction with Delta State Karate Association.

The competition is also intended to improve the standard of karatekas nationally and take the sport to the next level in Nigeria,” he said.

The competition would also witness a referees course, coaching course, players technical training and black belts grading/homologation.

The tournament is expected to feature all senior categories events in line with the United Federation of African Karate and World Karate Federation, UFAK and WKF respectively.

It would be recalled that the state karate association clinched second position in female karate at the just-concluded karata championship, held in Owerri, Imo State, while the Rivers male did not participate in the kata demonstration.