Zimbabwean karateka Justice Mutyoramwendo successfully retained his title in the Men's Open division at the Limpopo Shinkyokushinkai Karate annual championship when emerging tops at the competition held over the weekend in South Africa.
Mutyoramwendo, who first won the title last year, returned this year after he was invited to defend his title.
The 26-year-old said it was not an easy task.
"As a defending champion, it's not easy to defend your title. "It's always hard because you will be facing champions from different provinces. There were so many provinces that were taking part, and I was the only Zimbabwean fighter that participated in the Men's Open Division. "So, it was difficult, some of the decisions made during the fight were not favourable to me.
"I was also up against world champions and it was my first time to fight those world champions, like the guy I fought in the final, he was tough . . . the tournament was tough. It was not an easy tournament but I did my best and at the end of the day I was just going for a win.
"So, I will say it was not an easy tournament, I faced a lot of obstacles," said Mutyoramwendo. He trains under the guidance of International Karate Organisation (IKO) Nakamura Zimbabwe branch chief Tawanda Mufundisi. While Mutyoramwendo hoisted the country's flag high in South Africa, back home it was also a busy weekend for karatekas as they fought for honours in the Fifth IKO Nakamura Zimbabwe Champion of Champions (Incorporating the Zimbabwe Karate Classic) 2024.
Participants battled out in various weight divisions and some of the highlights include the Men's Open division in which Simbarashe Khumba overpowered Mind Mutengambiri to claim the title.
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The Ladies Open went to Tatenda Kambarami.
Robert Mashingaidze was crowned champion in the Men Under-75kg while Takunda Madamombe won the Un-der-60kg.
Ashwin Mufundisi won the Boys Under-55kg while Tsitsi Muranda emerged tops in the Girls Open. Tendai Chikohomera walked away with the Girls Under-50kg title.
The organisers also honoured some of their outstanding individuals with Carlington Muchiwa emerging as the Best Instructor while Mashingaidze was voted Best Achiever 2023 to 2024 in the Seniors and Alicia Mufundisi walked away with the same award in the Juniors section.
Keith Toto got the Most Disciplined accolade.
The tournament was open to different full-contact karate styles and IKO Nakamura Zimbabwe branch chief, Mufundisi was satisfied with the quality of the competition.
