Karate team captain wants preps for African Champs

RWANDA national karate team captain Vanily Ngaramba has admitted that early preparations is key to good performance at this year’s African Karate Championships scheduled for August 31 – September 2 in Kigali. The 25-year old emphasized the need for early preparations in an interview with Sunday Sport. “There has been notable improvement since the last time we competed in African Championships. The target is to win more medals this year than we did previously,” A confident Ngarambe said. He added that, “Every success requires sufficient preparations. If we have to prepare very well and start early enough, possibilities for medals will be limitless. We need to at least finish in top four, in overall classification.” Rwanda returns to the continental scene for the first time in four years, the first time since 2014 when the championship was staged in Senegal. At that particular edition, Rwanda was represented by four karatekas, three women and one man, Ngarambe. Asked about countries which are likely to give a tough time to the home fighters, Ngarambe replied, “The African Championships gathers the best from every country, it is important we take seriously every opponent.” “However, Egypt, Morocco, Algeria, Tunisia, Congo-Brazzaville and South Africa are the teams to be more careful about,” he explained. Rwanda will host the African Karate Championships for the first time, and Rwanda Karate Federation president Eugene Semigabo has no doubt it will be a massive success. He said; “The African Championships coming to Rwanda is a valuable opportunity, no doubt we want to make it a big success. We have resources and infrastructure, and a proven track of record in hosting international events.” The selected players will start non-residential training in April and two months later, the team will enter residential training camp. At the three-day continental showpiece, to be hosted at Amahoro Indoor Stadium, hosts Rwanda will be represented by 43 Karatekas in junior, youth and senior categories. editorial@newtimes.co.rw

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Karate team captain wants preps for African Champs