Some of the successful karatekas are seen here making a courtesy call on Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport Dr Frank Anthony.

A SQUAD of 16 locals recently returned from an outstanding showing of Guyana’s karate prowess at the 8th International Shotokan Karate Federation/Caribbean Karate College (ISKF/CKC), Caribbean Karate Championships, which were held in St Lucia from August 13 to 16.

The team which comprised a joint force of members from the Young Men’s Christian Association (YMCA) and the Guyana Karate College (GKC) dojos secured a total of twenty medals – 10 gold, 4 silver and 6 bronze at this year’s event.

Jeffrey Wong, a 5th Dan Sensei at the Guyana Karate College, said that Team Guyana’s performances were of a high standard which was up to par with their Caribbean counterparts. Guyana’s medal winners ranged from the 7-9 Boys’ individual kata category to the 45+ senior men’s team kata category.

Joshua Mortley earned the honour of best category competitor in the 7-9 Boys’ category. He won gold in the individual and team kata and bronze in the individual kumite. Aliya Wong, Alisa Wong, Teshanna Wong, Christy Dey, Kristina Cheeks, Leah Shariff, Kemo Cornelius, Mikhail Broomes, Samuel Ming, Eric Hing, Ashley Lopes, Kristal Lopes, Nathalie Gibson, Tanya Texiera, Jeffrey Wong, Amir Khouri and Neville Mortley are the karatekas who scored either gold or silver or bronze in the Individual and Team events at this year’s championship.

It is believed that Guyanese karatekas continue to perform well on the world stage because the local senseis are among the best in the world.