Mumbai karatekas win medals

Nine Karatekas from the city came back with medals in the third Asian Goju-ryu Karate Championship held in Kathmandu, Nepal, this month.

The team coached by Prakash Wagh and Ganesh Dalvi comprised of competitors in categories from U-12 to open.

The standout performer in the team was Payal Wagh, who won two medals in the championship.

The 12-year-old won gold in the ‘Kata’ event and a bronze in the ‘Kumite’ event.

The Kata event is the performance of only the moves by the single Karateka, while Kumite is an actual fight between two competitors. Payal, the daughter of coach Prakash Wagh, has been involved in Goju-ryu karate since the age of three.

She said, “Goju-ryu karate helps me in a number of things along with keeping me fit. I also practice taekwondo and western dance and I believe that karate is very helpful in the movements I need to make in the two.”

The only other gold medallist was Adesh Gursale who won gold in Kata as well. The contingent managed only two medals in Kumite. Apart from Payal, Shahzad Panthaki won the bronze in boys’ U-12.

Coach Ganesh Dalvi said that the reason for better performance in Kata was because Kumite requires more practice than the two months that they could afford to give their students. “Since Kumite is actual fighting it requires a lot of work in endurance, which was lacking in our team,” Dalvi said.