Karate proposed as Olympic sport

PRESIDENT of Karate South Africa (KSA) Hanshi Sonny Pillay recently returned from the WKF World Cup in Jakarta having attended the World Karate Federation (WKF) congress where karate was proposed for the Tokyo Olympics in 2020.

Pillay, a 8th Dan Black Belt, has served as head of delegation for the third year in succession, and led Team KSA comprising of a group of 41 athletes and officials to the World Cup at which a positive vibe was prevalent in the world cup auditorium with regards to karate being proposed as an Olympic sport for the Olympics.

Almost 100 national federation presidents from around the globe were in attendance at a WKF congress – a workshop during which the World Karate President Antonio Espinos briefed the delegates present with regards to progress and the very strong possibility of karate gaining Olympic status, which will be a first in the 300 year history of the sport.

“Karate is one of five additional sports proposed by the Japanese sports authorities for 2020 Tokyo Olympics and subject to an announcement in Rio in 2016. We were told by Antonio Espinos that karate has an excellent chance of being admitted as one of the codes which would certainly a huge boost for the sport if it does become an Olympic sport,” said Pillay.

The prestigious WKF World Cup hosted by Indonesia, was deemed an overwhelming success with superb fighting techniques on display throughout the four-day event.

Protea head coach Brando Pillay, who was assisted by KZN’S Vijay Govender and Eastern Cape’s Clayton Thom, expressed his optimism after carefully analysing the performances of the South athletes in Jakarta.

“I believe our team will soon deliver medals at the world cup and it is my sincere view that the European countries have the advantage of fighting in an international every weekend and that is the primary difference between their athletes and ours,” said Pillay.

For all inquiries regarding local karate activities, email: president@karate-sa.org