By Asim Sheraz
PESHAWAR: Under the auspices of the Pakistan Karate Federation, and in collaboration with the Directorate General of Sports Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Karate Association, the 31st National Karate Championship, 17th National Women’s Karate Championship, and the 6th Cadet and Junior Karate Championship will be held from June 19 to 22 at Government Postgraduate College No. 1, Abbottabad.
At the opening ceremony, the Provincial Minister for Sports and Youth Affairs, Syed Fakhar-e-Jehan, will be the chief guest. He will be accompanied by Secretary Sports Zia-ul-Haq, DG Sports Tashfeen Haider, Chairman of Pakistan Karate Federation Sensei Muhammad Jahangir, Secretary Andaleeb Sandhu, President of KP Karate Association Khurshid Khan, Secretary Asim, Regional Sports Officer Ahmed Zaman, and other important personalities.
According to KP Karate Association’s Coordinator Shah Faisal and Senior Vice President Khalid, the men’s competitions will include weight categories of 50kg, 55kg, 60kg, 67kg, 75kg, 84kg, and above 84kg, featuring individual kumite, team kumite, individual kata, and team kata events.
Women athletes will compete in 45kg, 50kg, 55kg, 61kg, 68kg, and above 68kg in similar categories.
Cadet boys will compete in 52kg and 57kg, cadet girls in 47kg and 54kg, junior boys in 55kg and 68kg, and junior girls in 53kg and 66kg.
Shah Faisal emphasized that only players registered with the Pakistan Karate Federation will be allowed to participate in the championships.
Teams participating include those from Pakistan Army, WAPDA, HEC, Police, Pakistan Railways, Pakistan Air Force, Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan, Islamabad, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
