ABU DHABI The Adnoc Al Ruwais Karate club hogged the limelight at the Shotokan-Karate 7th National Championship sweeping a whooping 81 medals and also the championship trophy.
The championship organised by Production House and supported by the UAE Wrestling, Judo and Kick Boxing Federation in Abu Dhabi recently saw around 400 participants fight for top honours in various age groups.
Big achievement
“It’s indeed a big achievement for the club, said a thrilled Gaus Amir Shaikh, the coach of the club.
“Our kids had trained really hard for this and we are happy to see the efforts transformed into wonderful results,” he added.
Of the 100 participants from the Ruwais team, 21 fighters bagged gold while 20 clinched silver medals. Forty members took home bronze.
This is the second time that the Al Ruwais team has achieved success on such a huge scale.
They sealed an amazing 63 medals during last year’s Shotokan 6th Focus Inter-Dojo Karate Championship held in Abu Dhabi. “This is the second time we are winning the overall championship trophy. We are proud of our team and hope to continue doing well in the local circuit,” Shaikh said.
Shaikh, who took charge as coach two years ago, called for more such tournaments to be held in the UAE that can provide sufficient exposure to budding fighters.
“We need to have tournaments on a regular basis. This will not only allow the kids to showcase their skills but will also allow them to assess themselves competing against the best in the field,” he said.
There were two categories (Kata and Kumite) held during the event.
“Most of the medals our boys secured were in Kata (where a participant displays his karate skills) and a few in Kumite (where a participant has a fight),” said Shaikh who plans to send his boys for international meets.
“We are working on this aspect. It involves a lot of things but given an opportunity we would want to send our boys for international meet that can help them grow.”
