Karate prepares for national championships

It requires time and commitment to prepare for any event, and currently the Papua New Guinea Karate-do Federation (PNGKF) is doing just that.

Federation executives held a meeting last Saturday at Waigani to review past events, discuss upcoming ones and prepare for the 24^th National Karate Championships which will be staged on July 6 – 7.

Federation president Carl Mari said the tournament dates had been moved forward so that a guest referee could be brought up from Australia by Sensei Trevor Roberts (Mentor Coach).

He also said the national championship was only for karate schools affiliated to the federation.Other styles of martial arts are normally invited to the PNG Open but not the PNG National championships.

He further added that only point contact kumité and kata events including musical kata would be staged. These are the main events in the upcoming Pacific Games in 2015; therefore, the tournament would concentrate on these events. The full contact kumité and other related events would only be held at the PNG Open titles.

Mari also said whilst there will be events for children and veterans, this national championship is important as it is a pre-selection event for the 2015 Pacific Games and athletes who wanted a chance to represent the country needed to attend this tournament.

Meanwhile, a new concept design for medals for the championships is currently under the drawing board. A sketch was previewed by the executives who were impressed with the design.

Deadline for the submission of team and athlete lists will be on July 4 and the federation expects all names to be handed in before then. Late submissions will not be accepted.

The tournament is sponsored by the Sports Federation and Olympic Committee (PNGSFOC) with support from SOS Security Ltd.

For further information, please, contact Karate Development Officer, Willie Leslie on mobile 72776677 or Treasurer, Joseph Kubul on mobile 71690504.

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