Nigeria’s leading women karatekas, alongside several others from abroad, have assembled in Lagos for the fifth edition of the Zainab Saleh International Female Open Karate Championship which commence from today and expected to end Sunday.
The championship holding at the Teslim Balogun Stadium is the lone female-only karate tournament in West Africa, attracting players from across the region, as far as Benin, Togo and Ghana.
This time around, more than 100 players have registered for the championship, and they are now battle-ready and hopeful.
Aderonke Ogunsanwo, a Second Dan black belt who has won gold at all the four previous championships in the -50kg category, says she has worked hard to retain her title.
“I know everyone is coming to beat me in my category, but I have been working and I will be ready for them,” the national athlete said.
Uju Nwankwo, a black belt, said she was looking to improve on her records from last year.
“I won one silver medal and one bronze medal in 2017, but this year I am looking forward to winning gold in both the kata and kumite,” she said.
Top karate referee Rita Aina, a Fourth Dan black belt, said the championship being an important one on the calendar of karate practitioners in the country was too good to miss.
“It’s an event no female karateka in Nigeria and West Africa as a whole will want to miss,” Aina, a World Karate Federation judge, said.
“It has gone a long way in giving female karatekas a sense of belonging in the sport in Nigeria,” she added.
On her part, Zainab Saleh, the competition’s founder, said the competition was timely.
“As the karate sport is set to make its first appearance at the Olympic Games at Tokyo 2020, more competitions are required.
“This is to ensure that practitioners in Nigeria find avenues to improve themselves ahead of the big event.
“For the female practitioners, a dearth of major competitions means they cannot adequately gauge their skills, and the Zainab Saleh International Open Female Karate Championship fills that gap,” she said.
Tidesports source reports that there will be competition in 32 categories of the sport at the Zainab Saleh International Open Female Karate Championship.
These include kata and kumite, from under-12 to seniors in different weight classes.
The championship will get underway on Friday with a seminar for those participating in the event, with competition commencing in the afternoon at the Molade Okoya-Thomas Hall.
On Saturday, the competition’s finals will hold, alongside the conclusion of the seminar for referees and instructors.