Karanja, Konde grab top honours at fiesta
By Charles.Thuku, May 31, 2022Lilian Karanja and Andrew Konde won the women’s and men’s kata categories respectively as the Japan Karate Association (JKA) Open Championships concluded at Parklands Sports Club in Nairobi at the weekend.
The lady’s version of the event was a closely contested affair as Karanja had to ward off stiff resistance from the likes of equally determined exponents like Naomi Munyiri and Nelima Lucy before walking away with the overall title.
During the event in which Karate fans were kept on the edge of their seats, Munyiri wound up second followed by Lucy and Brenda Onsomo.
In the men category, Andrew Konde called the tune to emerge second to none and hot on his heels were Anthony Mbogholi, Ian Mureithi and Joseph Kang’ethe.
There were also thrills and spills in the senior women’s kata where Ruth Makena, Flora Achieng’ and Millicent Menye were engaged in a cut-throat battle.
At the end of the action, Makena emerged the undisputed champion in the category as Achieng’ took the runner-up position followed by Menye with all the three getting trophies for the feat.
According to the organizer Caleb Atemi, the event lived up to its billing, adding that there was a marked improvement in standards as compared to the previous edition.
“There was a considerable improvement and I must particularly laud young exponents who are willing to learn. As for now, we plan to introduce other attractive prizes as we grow.”
He also hinted that plans are afoot to grow sports tourism using Karate that is popular with Kenyan youth.
“We plan to grow sports tourism using Karate and that will be the main message during upcoming tournaments,” he said.