Over 200 athletes for championships' ninth edition

 

Over Two Hundred Athletes will be competing at the ninth edition of the annual Zainab Saleh International Female Open Karate Championship.

  The  competition be done in  different categories in the Kumite and Kata events.

In a  press conference announcing the 2023 competition which will starts today with the referees course and examination, the convener and sponsor of the tournament, Hajiya Zainab Saleh, said apart from Nigeria, they are expecting athletes from some other West African countries especially Benin Republic who has been part of the competition since inception.

Hajiya Saleh said apart from the fact that the competition is to empower a girl child against bullying, domestic violence and rape, it is also her own way of giving back to the society especially in the development of the sport of Karate in Nigeria and Africa as a while.

"Apart from the technical skill of our female athletes, the competition is also to showcase what our ladies can do and that will bring more of them out from their shell and embrace sports," she said.

"We are also looking at the aspect of self-defense, especially what a girl child is going through around the world.

 They are always a target for attack, bully and rape and a proper knowledge of combat sports like Karate will give them an advantage in protecting themselves before they receive help.

"We have over 200 athletes that already registered and the competition will commence proper on Friday, November 3 with the last day Saturday, November 4 at the Indoor Sports Hall of the Teslim Balogun Stadium, Surulere, Lagos."

According to her, the athletes would be competing in the Senior Female Individual Kumite which is for athletes above 18 with events in -50kg, -55kg, -61kg, -68kg and +68kg weight while athletes would be fighting in Junior Female Individual Kumite, Cadet Female Individual Kumite, U-14 Female Individual Kumite and U-12 Female Individual Kumite.

There will also be competition in Kata in the same age categories as the Kumite with all the winners expected to go home with medals as well as trophies in some categories.