Fourways karate trio heads to Egypt
FOURWAYS – Father and sons trio Sensei Stef, Alessandro and Silvio Biagioni, will represent the country in the upcoming Karate African Cup Championship in Egypt.
A Fourways family will be heading to Egypt to represent South Africa in the Karate African Cup Championship from December 3 to 5.
Sensei Stef Biagioni (51) and his two sons Silvio (24) and Alessandro (16) will be taking part in kata at the (UFAK) Union of African Karate Federation’s African Cup in Cairo.
Stef, Silvio and Alessandro have officially represented the country 27, 17 and three times, respectively, and competed a combined total of 119 times at international events.
He said he and his sons feel immense pride at representing the country at the highest level and becoming a Protea.
“For me it is such a privilege that at my age I am healthy and fit enough to share something so unique (that’s never been done in karate) that a father and two sons can compete on an international level officially.
“This is history in the making for Karate South Africa. It’s an honour that our federation has the faith in me, Silvio and Alessandro to go out there to represent the country at the highest level.”
The three Biagioni men qualified through the Johannesburg District, then Gauteng and then won the South African Karate Championship.
Training to this point, with all the interruptions of Covid-19 lockdowns have not played a big hindrance, according to Stef. The trio entered a Virtual Karate Championship in which they performed their team kata. They won the gold medal and ranked number one in the world for the World Karate Series E-Tournament.
“It has been relatively easy as I have a fully fledged and well equipped karate club at home where I teach karate full-time as a professional instructor in the Fourways area.
“It was the Virtual E-Tournaments that made us decide to try physically at the South African Nationals to see if we would do as well as we did in the Virtual World Karate Championship.”
With a total of nine African Cup medals, Stef showed his sincere gratitude to the coaches and selectors for the opportunity he and his sons have.
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