A team of 12 athletes from the Kasane-based karate club Soukoss Karate Centre has brought home a total of 21 medals from the Livingstone Open Karate Championship that was held in Livingstone, Zambia on the 27th of July 2024.
The athletes brought home eight gold medals, nine silver medals, and four bronze medals under different categories that included Kata, Kumite, and Team Kata. In an interview, Soukoss Karate Founder Musokobanji Andrew said he was satisfied with the performance of his team. He stated that they had three months preparing for the tournament, so his team was well trained and equipped with the necessary skills which they aptly applied.
Andrew said the tournament was important to the club as they managed to explore more and acquire different skills from their counterparts. He noted that most importantly, the team had the opportunity to interact with athletes from other countries.
“The competition was good, it was compliant with the World Karate Federation (WKF) rules and regulations, The only problem we encountered was that some of the competitors from other clubs were Taekwando who according to the rules, their style is different from ours because we fight differently,” he said.
According to Andrew, his club was the only one from Botswana, and outside the host country, alongside five clubs within Zambia that participated These were Dentokan Karate Livingstone, Joindokai Karate Livingstone, Zambia National Service, Maramba Jodo Club and Kaloma Ashahara Karate and team Botswana (Soukoss Karate Centre).
The team was made up of Kaleel Baisson (19kg), Realeboga Musokobanji (29kg), Setso Kooitse (33kg), Thabang Shoshoma (35kg), Kgosi Mmusi (55kg), Fraklin Mhlambi (59kg), Warona Modisenyane (49kg) Oratile Mkheswa (50kg), Laura Monnaatsie (46kg), Pearl Kgaisa (54kg), Lefang Fanyana (49kg) and Justice Gabonwe 61kg).
As part of the journey to develop and expose athletes to the world of competition, Andrew has stated that they plan to attend different competitions, both locally and internationally. He said that some of the competitions they intend to attend this year include, JKA Funakoshi World Cup (Japan), JKA National Gasshuku (Francistown), Sub-Sahara Africa grading and Qualification (South Africa), Budo Pen Championship (Zambia) WSKF Kitwe Open Championship (Kitwe) and Sato Cup Africa Open Karate Championship (Gauteng).
