04 May 2017

Top karatekas from the Zone VI region take the stage tomorrow for the 7th edition of the Gabs Open Karate championships.

The tournament will bring the best of the best in the sport under one roof at Al Nur English Medium School in Gaborone.

At least four national champions from the region have confirmed their participation in the annual tournament hosted by Hayashi-ha Botswana Karate Union. Botswana karatekas will face tough opposition from South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia and Namibia.

World class karateka, Antonio Diaz is expected to travel from his native Venezuela to take part in the tournament, but had not confirmed his attendance late yesterday. The tournament will be graced by international champions such as Morgan Moss, Chanel Pablo and Jimmy Lee in the under 75kg category.

Some of the biggest names in the sport in the mold of Zimbabwean Winston Nyanhete are expected to grace the tournament.

However, the visiting karatekas are guaranteed tough opposition from the locals lads who have been on fine form. Much of the attention will be focused on the likes of Thabanag Setshego, Teto Wakwena, Mohammed Ali Hussein, Kagiso Mophuting and Gabriel Seleke amongst others.

The toast of the day will probably be under 67kg category where Setshego and Wakwena are likely to face Quinton Mosupiemang. Hayashi-ha Botswana will fine tune their athletes ahead of the World Championships slated for Spain in July.

In an interview with one of the organisers, Ofentse Bakwadi said the aim of the tournament was to scale the performance of the team and see if they were on the right track. The tournament is sponsored by Western Union Botswana with P30 000. ENDS