Pillay garners international recognition – Tongaat

Tongaat’s big name in Karate, Sonny Pillay continued to make waves on the international fighting circuit recently when he was elected unopposed as president of the Commonwealth Karate Nations of the World.

From bringing the Commonwealth Karate Championships to Durban’s shores to being at the helm of Karate South Africa (KSA) for the past eight years – not to mention being the first person of Indian origin to be elected as President of the Commonwealth Karate Federation (CKF), Pillay is no stranger to making karate history.

Pillay, who is beloved locally as the resident karate teacher in the “sugar town” of Tongaat said: “I note by virtue of this election victory (unopposed) with great pride the huge confidence placed in my ability to lead the CKF given the overwhelming support by the leaders of the commonwealth karate nations.

“Moreover I promise to lead with dignity and integrity especially in so far as good governance is concerned.”

The elections were chaired by acting president Raghupathy Thiagarajan from India and were conducted in Durban and attended by delegates from several commonwealth countries including Bangladesh, England, Scotland, Ireland, Canada, Mozambique, India, Botswana and Namibia among several others.

Also read: Sonny Pillay takes the karate championship reigns

The elections preceded a very successful Commonwealth Karate Championships hosted by Karate SA at the Olive Convention Centre in Durban earlier this month with 700 athletes from far and wide in attendance.

The world renowned karate maestro is the only South African to be appointed on the World Karate Federation technical board and, with the help of the CKF executive, is proud to have gained recognition from the Commonwealth Games Federation (CGF).

“It is incumbent upon us as the new democratically elected commonwealth executive to ultimately seek inclusion of karate into the Commonwealth Games proper. Therefore we expect to strongly focus our efforts on the forthcoming games in 2022 scheduled to be hosted in Birmingham in England,” concluded the new president of the CKF.

For more info on the CKF, visit www.commonwealthkarate.info or call the Pillay at 082 55 777 84.

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