Karate trio set for first international tourney in 2015

Three players will represent Rwanda at the forthcoming Karate1 Premier League, a two-day African competition which starts on February 28, in Egypt. Vanily Ngarambe, vice captain of the national team, Christian Rurangayire and Espoir Ntungane, all aged 22, will compete in the Kumite [fighting] bouts in the tournament to be held in Sharm el-Sheikh. The players are in Kigali preparing for the team’s first international tournament of the year. The national team vice captain, Vanily Ngarambe, seen here in training with Egptian expert, Tamer Abdel-Raouf last year. (File) National Karate Federation (Ferwaka) technical director Guy Didier Rurangayire told Times Sport that the ministry of sports has allocated Rwf7million for the team. “The team is ready. We hope to make it to Egypt in time, latest by Thursday next week, for the mandatory weighing process which must be done before February 27,” Rurangayire said. Ngarambe and Ntungane will fight in the under 75 kg and under 67 kg categories, respectively. Rurangayire (young brother of Guy) is in the over 84 kg category. The trio will use the competition as a gauging platform ahead of the All African Games scheduled for September in Congo-Brazzaville. This year, among others, Rwanda is likely to feature in a mid-year Zone V event, and the World Junior, Cadet and U21 Championships 2015 set for Indonesia, in November. Following the recent departure of Ruslan Adamov, the Russian expert who trained the national team for the past four years, a Rwandan quartet, including Rurangayire, is now in charge on interim basis. The other three; are Petit Ndushabandi, Sylvestre Twajamahoro and Noel Nkuranyabahizi. editorial@newtimes.co.rw

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Karate trio set for first international tourney in 2015