Tuulikki Abraham
LÜDERITZ – More than 450 karatekas from five countries will converge at the southern coastal town of Lüderitz for the much anticipated Open Karate Championships, taking place from August 23-25.
Namibian chief instructor for Ryushin-kan Karate International, Sensei Bonnie Kabozu said preparations and all logistics are in full swing, as they also recently received sponsorship from various companies.
Kabozu said Nedbank Namibia sponsored them with 400 medals, while Marco Fishing sponsored 58 trophies, which will be awarded to the various winners at the championships. The Lüderitz Rotary Club also donated N$68 000 towards the competition.
Nedbank’s Lüderitz branch manager Sylvia Stein handed over the medals, while Marco Fishing administration manager Reeva van Rooyen and chairman of Marco Fishing Charitable Trust, Jan Scholtz, handed over the trophies.
On behalf of the organisers, Kabozu expressed sincere appreciation to all the companies that came on board and threw their weight behind the event, and further urged others to come through and support the competition in whatever capacity.
“We would like to thank the companies that sponsored the upcoming Lüderitz Open Karate Championship, their support is really appreciated as this will be the first time for the town of Lüderitz to host such a big event. The money sponsored so far will be used to purchase karate tatamis and also cater for the costs that usually comes with staging an event of this magnitude, as karatekas will be coming from as far as Mozambique, Botswana, South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe,” said Kabozu.