South Africa are determined to defend their Karate-Do Gojukai World Championship title in India as the sixth edition of the karate extravaganza gets underway at Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel Indoor Stadium, National Sports Club of India (NSCI) from December 11 to 15.
The 300-member contingent landed in Mumbai yesterday. Head of South African Gojukai Frank Brandon said that the team wants to succeed for Nelson Mandela, who passed away in Johannesburg last week.
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“It is an emotional tournament for all of us in the team. We won the title when the fifth edition was held in South Africa four years ago. Mandela was a great man and it is because of him the whites and blacks in our country live together.
“We left for India just a day after he passed away. There are two reasons why we want to win the championship title — firstly for Mandela and secondly because we want to defend the title away from home,” said Brandon during a media briefing yesterday.
“Over 1,000 participants from 32 countries will participate in the event which is being held in India for the first time,” said Vispy Kapadia, president and founder of the All India Gojukai Karate-Do.u00a0