Karate star makes comeback and wins medal
A karateka who teaches karate in the West Rand and Glenharvie region says the future of the sport for all our youth, irrespective of colour, is looking good.
Luciano Enzo Pillay, who took a break last year, has made a remarkable comeback by winning a medal at the recent SA Karate Championships held in Cape Town.
The event was held in the Bellville Velodrome and took place over a period of two days.
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Luciano Enzo coaches karate on the West Rand and in Glenharvie and decided to take a break in 2016 whilst completing his final year at the Carleton Jones High School.
The young South African Protea fighter has thus far travelled to Namibia, London, Canada, Australia and Indonesia – all in the spirit of karate – throughout his teenage years.
His father, Shihan Kruben Pillay, is optimistic and said, “Had Luciano Enzo not taken off from karate for studies in his final school year, he would have been the number one ranked athlete in the country in his weight category.”
Shihan Kruben added that in order to be the number one World Karate Federation athlete in South Africa, one must consistently be involved with elite competition on a regular basis. This means travelling far and wide.
Luciano Enzo has now set his sights on the South African Open championships in mid-winter in KwaZulu-Natal. His aim will be to rack up more points in the ranking system to improve his chances of selection in the upcoming international events.
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Other future young karate stars who did extremely well and competed in the national championships for the first time are Liam de Beer and Roshan Singh. Shihan Kruben said the future looks good for these young and vibrant upcoming youths of today.
These young fighters will also feature in the International Kanazawa Cup in KZN next month, together with Steven Wild who will be enduring the tough second-degree black belt examination by the 8th Dan Master Manabu Murakami of Japan.
Samantha Mare (black belt) will accompany the team to the Kanazawa Cup and will also be rolling up her sleeves together with the young fighters to do battle with other fine karatekas from Shotokan Karate International South Africa.
Shihan Kruben, who also teaches karate in the West Rand and Glenharvie region, said the future of Sport Karate for all our youth, irrespective of colour, is looking good. Youth who love karate can now pursue their Olympic dream as karate is now an Olympic Sport that will feature for the first time in the 2020 Tokyo, Japan Olympic Games.
• Details: Contact Narene Pillay on 072 838 7528.
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