SKA pledge their best to host Asian karate tournament
KOTA KINABALU: Sabah Karate Association (SKA) pledged their best to host the 18th Asian Cadet, Junior and Under-21 Karate Championship here on April 26-28.
The three-day tournament, which Sabah last hosted in 2008, is expected to bring together around 1,000 athletes, coaches and officials at the Kota Kinabalu Sports Complex in Likas near here.
The participants would be from the 45 member countries under the Asian Karate Federation (AKF), secretary general of SKA Julian Chin said yesterday.
"The local organising committee held a meeting over the weekend and the main agenda was to make sure that all are in place before the start of the championship.
"Despite facing limited resources, we will try our utmost best to be among the best organisers of the tournament," said Julian who chaired the meeting.
He said the Malaysia Karate Federation (Makaf) offered SKA to play host after Sarawak pulled out from staging the championship.
Meanwhile, Julian believed that to have one of the major Asian karate championships here would be a massive boost to further promote and develop the sport in Sabah.
"Some of the best young karatekas from Asia will be competing and it will be a great opportunity for our youngsters not miss it.
"Our young athletes will be able to watch the actions and maybe learn something valuable and useful for their own development," he added.
In the last edition of the tournament held in Okinawa Japan last year, Sabah elite karateka Pressy Misty Philip contributed a silver medal to the country from the Female -68kg Kumite in the under-21 category.