Karate: 45 World Championship medals for DOJO Karate Centre

The DOJO Karate Centre Rochdale squad medalists

The DOJO Karate Centre members returned from the World Martial Arts Games Championships (WMAG) held in London the last weekend of October with an amazing haul of 45 medals; 11 gold, 23 silver and 11 bronze.

Sensei Irfan Ansari, 7th Dan and chief instructor said: “The standard of performers was very high at this year’s World Championships, our athletes performed brilliantly and behaved on and off the mats as ambassadors for their families and their towns of Rochdale, Oldham and Middleton.

“The best performances were from Lucia Walter, Diya Kerai and Daniel Tarasevic.

“I think our results speak for themselves: 45 medals for 13 medal winners from 16 athletes is fantastic news with many competing at the world level for the first time. These results demonstrate that our coaching methods are very strong and have been working well for over a decade, shining a huge spotlight on Rochdale.

“I hope our athletes will continue to aspire to higher successes.”

Team DOJO members competed in many different events according to their age and belt level ranging from Individual Kata, Weapons Kata, Team Kata, Weapons Team Kata, Open Team Forms, Kumite, Points Kickboxing, Continuous Kickboxing and Self-defence.

The winners are pictured with Sensei Ansari, top right back row, and left to right are:

Diya Kerai (2 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze), Lucia Walter (2 gold, 2 silver), Amaanullah Rana (1 silver, 3 bronze), Hassan Umar, Huseyn Mikayilov (1 gold, 2 silver).

Middle row (L-R) Kisha Kerai, Blake Walter (1 gold, 2 silver), Awais Akhtar (3 silver, 1 bronze), Aditya Roy (1 gold, 2 silver, 2 bronze), Daniel Tarasevic (1 gold, 6 silver), Fatima Azzahra (1 bronze).

Front row (L-R) Ali Baaqir (1 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze), Saliha Ayaz (1 gold, 1 bronze), Damien Tarasevic (2 silver), Abu-bakr Farooq (1 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze), Ibrahim Mahmood.

The WMAG attracted competitors from over 20 countries and was held over three days, 25-27 October at Egham, London.