Nwankwo, Oghenevwogaga shine at 5th Zainab Saleh International Female Open Karate Championship

Top women athletes from West Africa competed at the fifth Zainab Saleh International Female Open Karate Championship.

Nigeria's leading women karateka Ujunwa Nwankwo shone at the fifth Zainab Saleh International Female Open Karate Championship while Elizabeth Oghenevwogaga was the revelation of the competition.

Top women athletes from West Africa competed at the fifth Zainab Saleh International Female Open Karate Championship which held over two days at the end of October 2018 at the Molade Okoya Thomas Hall of the Teslim Balogun Stadium.

 

For this year's edition of the annual competition, Nwankwo won the title in her -68kg senior category while Oghenevwogaga of Delta State who won the -53kg junior category to announce herself on the stage.

Aderonke Ogunsanwo, another big name in Nigeria however lost in the final for the first time in five years in the -50kg senior category.

It was a grand gathering of women karatekas who were there to show their mettle at the annual event.

The Zainab Saleh Karate is the only tournament where female karate practitioners can really be centre-stage without being overshadowed by the men.

They were able to be judged by their speed and stealth as the hall rang out in wild applause at their ingenuity.

Every year it is top on the agenda of every female karateka across Nigeria and West Africa who come in from Abuja, Anambra, Delta, Kano, Rivers as well as Ghana, Togo and Benin Republic to battle for honours.

“As Karate is set to make its first appearance at the Olympic Games at Tokyo 2020, more competitions are required. This is to ensure that practitioners in Nigeria find avenues to improve themselves ahead of the big unveil," Hajiya Zainab Saleh, the tournament’s founder said.

“We also want to encourage more women to take up the sport of Karate in order to keep themselves healthy and protect themselves in a time of increasing incidents of rape and domestic violence.”

National Karate referee Rita Aina said: “The Zainab Saleh Karate Championship has gone a long way in giving female karatekas a true sense of belonging and empowerment in the sport.”

Every year it is top on the agenda of every female karateka across Nigeria and West Africa who come in from Abuja, Anambra, Delta, Kano, Rivers as well as Ghana, Togo and Benin Republic to battle for honours.