2018 has already been a noteworthy year for Namibian Karate and the Union and its athletes are only gaining momentum. The year started with the National Team trials and selection. Since its selection, the 2018 Namibia Karate Team has been undergoing constant training; testing and competition to not only further develop sports karate in Namibia but to prepare our athletes for more elite level international competition.
After an impressive performance at the 2018 AUSC Region 5 Karate Championships, having placed 3rd overall of seven countries present, NAKU set its sights on the 2018 African Youth Games in Algiers, Algeria.
To ensure the best chance of medalling, NAKU only sent the very best athletes in their respective categories;
Freddy Mwiya Jnr – Male Individual Kata and Male Individual Kumite (-68kg)
Mayvonne Swart – Female Individual Kata and Female Individual Kumite (-58kg)
Michelle Tjimuku – Female Individual Kumite (-48kg)
Accompanying the team was National Coach Sensei DeWet Moolman and Namibian Chief Referee Sensei Wikus Oberholster.
Day one of the karate competition started with the Kata disciplines, and both athletes Mayvonne Swart and Freddy Mwiya Jnr faced large categories of 12 and 16 contestants respectively. Namibia’s karate wonder boy Freddy Mwiya Jnr put on a very respectably performance of 2 wins and 2 loses, ultimately losing to Algeria and taking 4th place.
Mayvonne Swart started strong with two wins against Guinea and Djibouti before losing to Egypt in the 3rd round. Mayvonne however managed to put on a magnificent performance in her final round against Angola; winning Bronze!
In the -48kg female kumite division, Michelle Tjimuku managed to fight her way to the 3rd place round against Algeria. After leading the majority of the fight with a score of 2-0, Algeria comes back in the final minute to win the fight 4-3, leaving Michelle with a respectable 4th place finish.
Day two of the competition featured the remaining divisions, and once again Freddy Mwiya Jnr was faced with a large category featuring 14 other countries. After a convincing first round victory against Angola, Freddy faced Tunisia in the quarter finals. Freddy put on an exhilarating performance, leading the fight at three different times; but loses 5-7 in the final seconds, taking him out of medal contention.
Mayvonne again put on a strong performance in her -58kg female kumite division making it to the 3rd place round to face Algeria. After numerous back and forths in the fight, Algeria scores in the final few seconds, and Mayvonne finishes in 5th place.
Not only did the athletes prove that they are ready to compete at such elite levels of competition, they each achieved a top 5 ranking on the continent, highlighting Namibia’s high standard. The highlight of the trip was undoubtedly Mayvonnes performance, placing 3rd in Female Individual Kata. Having placed in the top 3 countries in Africa highlights Namibia’s readiness to take on higher levels of competition!
When asked to comment on his team’s performance Sensei DeWet Moolman mentions that “The fact that there is room for growth is an exciting prospect for the future of Namibian karate, and the work now has to be done to translate these results into even stronger performances at international level”.
Next stop for Sensei DeWet and his team is the 17th African Senior Karate Championships and 9th African Junior karate Championships to be held from the 28th of August to the 2nd of September 2018 in Kigali, Rwanda, followed by the WKF Senior World Championships in Madrid, Spain.
Both instances unfortunately require the athletes to pave their own way, finances allowing, but the Namibia Karate Union is optimistic that new sponsors will begin to see Karate as a worthwhile opportunity to promote their brand.