WINDHOEK – Team Namibia delivered a sterling performance at the recent 18th edition of the Region-5 Karate Championships held at the coastal town of Swakopmund, which saw Namibian karatekas amass a total of 19 gold medals from the championships.
The performance saw host Namibia finishing third overall, with the 19 gold complemented by 25 silver and 61 bronze medals to bring the country’s medal tally to 105.
South Africa were crowned overall winners of the championships with her 28 gold, 25 silver and 29 bronze medals, while Botswana claimed second place with 25 gold, 21 silver and 21 bronze medals. President of the Namibia Karate Union (Naku) Cornelius D’Alton said: “The Namibia Karate Union is very pleased with the results and now we need to start preparing for the next major events in Africa and internationally.”
Namibia is currently ranked third for seven straight years in the region and maintained this position during the championships. Last year Namibia ended ninth in Africa during the African Karate Championships held in Rwanda, which this year will be held in Botswana.
Namibia will be looking to send top athletes to gain exposure and bring back experience that will help them improve their game further and move up through the rankings.
D’Alton added that they have a tough schedule ahead of them as they will have a small delegation travelling to the first ever African Beach Games in Sal Island, Cape Verde that will be followed by the African Karate Championships in Botswana in July and then the African Games in Morocco in August and September.
And then later in September, it will be the Namibia National Karate Championships and the World Beach Games in San Diego in October before turning their attention to the Cadet, Junior and U/21 World Karate Championships in Chile.
‘’All of these events will require great dedication and funding from various sources so the athletes and the karate union will be planning and working very hard to see how we can turn these dreams into reality and accord their karatekas the opportunity to obtain needed Olympic qualifying points,” he emphasised.
Gold medal winners: Requelle Rickerts, Nathan Leopoldt, Julio Mwiya, Alexander Neidel, Henry Jooste, Kyla Scheepers, Jordan Rossouw, Daniel Tjimuku, France Nauseb, Celine Shilongo, Westley Marschal, Rassie Esterhuizen, Brandon-Lee Martin, Jan Magiel Leff, Phillip van Antwerpen, Freddy Mwiya, Suzelle Pronk, Michelle Tjimuku and Maritza du Plessis.