Ellina Mhlanga Sports Reporter
ZIMBABWE Karate Union technical director (full contact) Kumbirai Musinami says they are looking at reviving their teams when they host the third All-Africa So-Kyokushin Karate Championships next month as the event returns after a two-year break.
The tournament, which is hosted by the Zimbabwe So-Kyokushin Karate-Do Organisation, was first held in 2015 and returns to the Chitungwiza Aquatic Complex on July 27 and 28 with South Africa, Zambia and Swaziland expected to grace the competition.
Musinami said they want to rebuild their full contact teams after failing to impress in several regional events this year including at the ACKO Regional karate tournament in Thokoza, South Africa, last month where the hosts dominated.
“So, it’s basically going to be more of regional. But we are mostly focusing on our own athletes because we have noticed that our medals tally went down a little bit at regional and international tournaments.
“So we want to try and rebuild, we are aggressively training. All our fighters have been training since they came back from Thokoza and we didn’t take a break.