10 Sep 2014

A team of 21 karatekas from Hayashi-Ha Karate Union put up an excellent performance at the closely contested Cape Town Open championships.

The athletes proved once again to be amongst the finest karatekas in the region when they amassed a total of 21 medals from one of the competitive karate events of the South African Karate Association calendar which attracted participants from Botswana, Namibia and the hosts, South Africa.

Botswana had 21 entries competing in the kumite and kata in various categories.  The youngest entrant being seven-year old kata sensation, Atang Mochuakhumo who was crowned with two bronze for excellent display in both kata and kumite.

The rest of the team brought home a total of 21 medals including five gold medals, six silver and 10 bronze. Former Junior national team ace karateka Rafael Reid punched down Africa Youth Games sensation and defending champion Thabang Setshego in the open division kumite. 

The latter settled for a silver medal after an end to end battle with the 20 year old Reid who has been on excellent form in his own division locally.

In another interesting local battle on foreign soil Ofentse Bakwadi, who led the entire team to the coastal city, won his kata tie against Emmanuel Bulayani of the Francistown Hayashi-ha club. Bakwadi capped his splendid performance with yet another gold after edging out Abdullah Mohammed of South Africa in the open kumite tie.

Ahmed Hussain could not match 10 year old Setso Sebina’s kata movements and settled for silver while his elder brother Mohammed Hussain beat his South African opponent for another gold for the team. Promising girl’s youngster Zarah Khan got two silver medals for the kumite and kata.

In an interview, one of the veteran karatekas of Hayashi-Ha Kaene Kago who also accompanied the team to the coast said they were impressed by the overall performance despite sending a small team due to insufficient funds. 

Bakwadi heaped praises on local companies who are continuing to show support for their efforts.

The club has grown in leaps and bounds in recent years sending their athletes to top notch tournaments like the lucrative US Open and the Hayashi-Ha World championships. 

They are busy working round the clock to make a maiden appearance to the British Open slated early 2015. ENDS