Sharjah: The UAE national karate team secured a creditable third place in the West Asian Karate Championship for men and women which concluded in Sharjah on Tuesday.
The team won three more medals on the final day’s action to help take their total for the two-day event to 12 medals — including three gold, five silver and four bronze.
Despite winning only 10 medals, Iran were declared champions — having won seven golds, the largest number won by any team. They also won two silvers and one bronze while second-placed Jordan amassed a tally of 12 medals, including three gold, six silver and three bronze.
Saudi Arabia finished fourth with six medals (three gold, one silver and two bronze) and were followed by Qatar in fifth place with one silver and a bronze.
Sixth place went to Lebanon with six bronze medals while Iraq were seventh with five medals and Oman eighth with a solitary bronze medal.
Saudi Arabia men took home the team Kata title, surpassing Jordan, the UAE and Iran. The Saudis won six medals including three golds, one silver and two bronze. They were followed by Jordan with six medals (two gold, three silver and one bronze) and the UAE also with six medals (two gold, one silver and three bronze).
Iran finished fourth with five medals (two gold, two silver and one bronze) followed by Qatar in fifth place (one silver and one gold), while Oman came sixth with four bronze medals and Iraq took seventh place with one bronze.
Iran’s women’s team finished first with five gold medals, followed closely by the UAE team in second place with five medals (one gold, three silver and two bronze).
Iraq were fourth with five bronze medals and were followed by Lebanon in 5th place with one bronze.
The event was organised and hosted by the Sharjah Ladies Club (SLC)-Women Sports Department, in collaboration with the Taekwondo and Karate Federation and the General Authority of Sports and Youth Welfare, under the auspices of the West Asian Karate Federation (WAKF).
The 2015 WAKF championship sattracted 115 male and female fighters from Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Qatar, Oman, Iran, Iraq, Lebanon and the host country — the UAE.
Iran, although receiving only 10 medals, managed to secure the tournament title by winning seven gold, the largest number of medals achieved by any team. The organisers thanked Shaikha Jawaher Bint Mohammad Al Qasimi, Chairperson of the Sharjah Ladies Club, for her generous patronage of the championship and for her immense efforts to ensure its success.
Dr Ebrahim Mohammad Al Qannas, president of the WAKF and of the Saudi Arabian Karate Federation, said the championship was a great success throughout, as evidenced by the vast turnout and distinguished participation of West Asia’s most prominent countries, upholding the event’s world-class reputation.
