04 Dec 2016

Kofukan Karate academy assembled a hard to crack team that fought like lions attacking wild boars on Saturday (December 3) to reclaim the annual Botswana Karate Association (BOKA) National club championships.

Buoyed by their recent neat performance in Francistown at the Kofukan senior and junior open championships the team led by under 75kg kumite sensation Oratile Caiphus inched past their sworn enemies from the Hayashi-Ha karate stable.

It was all an interesting affair in the preliminaries as some of the new faces at the championships produced shocking results against some of the seasoned karatekas.The much anticipated men's senior team kumite match produced the predicted spark between the two traditional rivals.

However it was not an easy road to the finals as the team comprising of the likes of Tirafalo Tsimamma, Kabelo Molefhe, Nelson Matshamekwane, Mpho Bosenakitso and Batlaareng Shabane was nearly stopped on their tracks by tough opposition from Shitokai and the JKA karate teams.

However Kofukan counting on their great endurance throughout the semifinals staged a dramatic comeback to retain the title. On a sad note the final match between Bosenakitso and Africa Youth Games gold medalist Thabang Setshego ended fatally after the latter was rushed to the emergency room unconscious.

In other interesting matches Lame Hetanang produced a last gasp victory against the impressive JKA youngster Lebogang Moswela in the senior female team kumite. The JKA team comprising of Wathuto Maake and Hetanang emerged victorious.

Despite fighting to a bitter end the Hayashi-Ha team was impressive in the team kata category clinching most of the titles against their opponents.  

They won both the male and female 14-15years kata, senior female kata and the female 14-15 year kumite while Kofukan swept the stables.

Speaking on the sidelines of the day long matches BOKA publicity secretary Jerry Ditlhong said the tournament was the last event on the local karate calendar and immediately after the festive break they will be selecting a team to represent the country at the Zone VI tournament slated for Mozambique next year February. ENDS