ACTING Minister of Culture, Youth and Sport (MCYS) Irfaan Ali has extended warm congratulations to Team Guyana for their impressive showing in the just concluded 11th International Shotokan Karate Federation (ISKF) Pan American karate championships.
Ali, who holds the office of Minister of Housing and Water in the present PPP/C administration, is an ardent sports fan and was present on the opening day of the two-day championships held at the Cliff Anderson Sports Hall.
The event which attracted 12 teams from the Caribbean and North America saw Guyana come out on top with 44 medals, 18 of which were gold, 11 silver and 15 bronze.
In his congratulatory message, Ali hailed the extraordinary performance from a dedicated and hard-working team of Guyanese who epitomise the true spirit of karate, embodied by the crowning of 31-year-old Third Dan black belt karateka Natalie Gibson as the new Pan American kumite champion.
“Critical to Guyana’s success, was the hard work of the technical staff whose commitment and tireless dedication to the sport and Team Guyana resulted in great pride as was evidenced by the results achieved.
“The success achieved stands as testament to our people’s resilience and strong determination to overcome in spite of the challenges and obstacles placed before them. It can be no coincidence that our nation’s recent sporting results continue to make us proud, another testament to the capacity potential of our people.”
According to the press release, the Government of Guyana will continue to partner with the sporting fraternity, as it shares a common goal – the success of our people and development of our nation.
“All Guyana salute the hard work and success of Team Guyana and we look forward to your continued success.”