Fifteen members from Goju Kai St Andrew’s and Goju Kai Founders Hill dojos were selected to represent the Gauteng provincial all styles karate team, which competed at the Karate South Africa (KSA) All-Styles Karate Championships.
The championships were held in Tongaat, KwaZulu-Natal.
“It was very difficult for the athletes to prepare for this event, as all dojos have to train using social distancing. Non-touch training is still being enforced in the dojos,” said sensei Russell Sim. “They really committed to the fitness and drills training and it benefited them immensely in the tournament.” He emphasised that the KSA nationals was run using strict Covid-19 protocols approved by the Department of Health and SAPS.
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The dojo won 17 medals in total – five gold, six silver and six bronze. Sim described the karatekas’ success as an outstanding achievement.
“Our boys unison kata team, consisting of Connor Hundermark, Tyler Kabali-Kagwa and Phumelele Ngwenya, were crowned national champions when they took first place in the boys’ 7- to 13-year-old team kata division. “The most outstanding performance, however, was when Gabriella Toweel won two national titles by winning the girls 10-11 years kata and kumite divisions, making her the grand champion in the 10-11 girls division. “It was truly an outstanding weekend for our dojo,” said Sim
Individual results are:
• Marco Botha – bronze medal for kumite
• Suzaan Botha – bronze medal for kumite
• Mikayla Alves – bronze medal for kumite
• Chloe Keartland – silver medal for kumite
• Gabriella Toweel – gold medals for kata and kumite
• Darshan Govender – silver medals for kata and kumite
• Connor Hundermark – gold medal for team kata and bronze medal for kata
• Devin Bourbon – bronze medal for kata
• Phumelele Ngwenya – gold medal for team kata
• Mathew Soares – silver medal for kata
• Connor Falls – silver medal for kumite
• Tyler Kabali-Kagwa – gold medal for team kata, silver medal for kata and bronze medal for kumite.
The dojo members are looking forward to the next KSA event, which is the u-21 and senior all-styles championships to be held in Mpumalanga from March 19 to 21.
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