Namibians back from karate champs

THE 10th Africa Senior Karate championships of the Union of Africa Karate Federations (UFAK) was held in Luanda at the end of last month and attracted a large number of competitors, with 19 African countries vying for top honours.

The countries that competed were hosts Angola, Benin, Botswana, Cameroon, Central Africa Republic, Côte d’ Ivoire, Congo Brazzaville, Egypt, Gabon, Kenya, Mali, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, Rwanda, Senegal, Sierra Leone, South Africa and Uganda. Namibia entered a team of four karatekas to compete in the individual kumite and kata events of the championships.According to the Namibia Karate team manager, David Sitler, the Namibian team did extremely well, but could not succeed in winning any of the medals.Sitler explained that in the kumite category, Freddy Mwiya lost his first fight in the under-80-kg division by 1: 3.In the open division he won his first fight and lost the second fight by one point in the last 3-5 seconds after leading for most of the fight.Freddy Mwiya’s opponent went through and lost in the semi-final of their division.Ace Mutelo lost his fight in the under-80-kg division.In the open division, he lost his first fight against the champion of the open division, which gave him another chance to fight in the second round.Although he did not win the fight, Mutelo fought much better in the second round.Paul Mwiya won his first fight in the under-70-kg division against an Angolan.In the second fight Paul’s opponent kicked him on the left hand and torn his ring finger ligaments.The opponent was disqualified, but Paul Mwiya could not continue, since he was taken to hospital for treatment.Nadeem Husselmann, the youngest member in the team, won his first fight when his opponent was disqualified in last 30 seconds of the fight.Nadeem was 2:1 ahead when the other contestant swept him and went for the sanbon (three-pointer), but knocked Husselmann out.This contestant had a previous warning (Kykoku) for excessive contact.His second fight was against Egypt.The experience of the Egyptian proved to be too much for Husselmann and he lost the fight with 1: 0 in the quarterfinals.In the kata events, Ace Mutelo was unlucky to draw one of the Egyptians (overall winners in the male kata divisions) in the second round.Husselmann narrowly lost by a split decision after losing his balance in the kata.National coach Sensei Valdemar Swart is extremely proud of the team’s performance and achievements, as they only trained twice as a team before the championships.On the refereeing side, Sitler said the national referees, Sensei Wikus Oberholster and sensei Gert Husselmann, attended a two-day UFAK referee’s course and did extremely well in the examination.Sensei Oberholster received Kata Judge-B and Kumite Judge-A grade while Sensei Gert Husselmann received a Kata Judge-A and Kumite Referee-B grade Sensei André Genis was once again elected as the Secretary General for UFAK, while Sensei Imtiaz Abdulla of South Africa was re-elected as the UFAK President with an overwhelming majority.Namibia entered a team of four karatekas to compete in the individual kumite and kata events of the championships.According to the Namibia Karate team manager, David Sitler, the Namibian team did extremely well, but could not succeed in winning any of the medals.Sitler explained that in the kumite category, Freddy Mwiya lost his first fight in the under-80-kg division by 1: 3.In the open division he won his first fight and lost the second fight by one point in the last 3-5 seconds after leading for most of the fight.Freddy Mwiya’s opponent went through and lost in the semi-final of their division.Ace Mutelo lost his fight in the under-80-kg division.In the open division, he lost his first fight against the champion of the open division, which gave him another chance to fight in the second round.Although he did not win the fight, Mutelo fought much better in the second round.Paul Mwiya won his first fight in the under-70-kg division against an Angolan.In the second fight Paul’s opponent kicked him on the left hand and torn his ring finger ligaments.The opponent was disqualified, but Paul Mwiya could not continue, since he was taken to hospital for treatment.Nadeem Husselmann, the youngest member in the team, won his first fight when his opponent was disqualified in last 30 seconds of the fight.Nadeem was 2:1 ahead when the other contestant swept him and went for the sanbon (three-pointer), but knocked Husselmann out.This contestant had a previous warning (Kykoku) for excessive contact.His second fight was against Egypt.The experience of the Egyptian proved to be too much for Husselmann and he lost the fight with 1: 0 in the quarterfinals.In the kata events, Ace Mutelo was unlucky to draw one of the Egyptians (overall winners in the male kata divisions) in the second round.Husselmann narrowly lost by a split decision after losing his balance in the kata.National coach Sensei Valdemar Swart is extremely proud of the team’s performance and achievements, as they only trained twice as a team before the championships.On the refereeing side, Sitler said the national referees, Sensei Wikus Oberholster and sensei Gert Husselmann, attended a two-day UFAK referee’s course and did extremely well in the examination.Sensei Oberholster received Kata Judge-B and Kumite Judge-A grade while Sensei Gert Husselmann received a Kata Judge-A and Kumite Referee-B grade Sensei André Genis was once again elected as the Secretary General for UFAK, while Sensei Imtiaz Abdulla of South Africa was re-elected as the UFAK President with an overwhelming majority.