4 Meghalaya Karatekas to compete in Thailand Open Karate-Do C’ship

The All Meghalaya Karate-Do Association on Tuesday announced that four Karatekas from the State will be participating in the prestigious Thailand Open Karate-Do Championship in Phuket from August 19. 

The four - Ferdinand S Rani, Gregorwilson Makdoh, Saralin Rynghang, and Damanbha Pde - are some of the up-and-coming Meghalaya karatekas who have already won medals at state, regional, and national tournaments respectively. The four sportstars represent the All Meghalaya Karate-Do Association.

They will leave for New Delhi on August 18 where they will join the rest of the Indian contingent and then depart for Thailand on the morning of August 19. 

The Kumite (bouts) and Kata (form and movement demonstration) will then begin on August 20, with the tournament scheduled to conclude on August 23. The karatekas will then return to India the following day. 

Last month, Pde won a silver medal and Rynghang a bronze at the All India Karate Championship in Chhattisgarh. Before the Covid-19 pandemic, Makdoh and Rani had won gold and bronze medals, at the Kanninjuku National Shoto Cup Karate Championship in Maharashtra. 
 
"The association wants to give international exposure to our young karatekas because for two years they were not able to take part," AMKA President Hunlang Lytan said at a recent send-off function for the four, referring to the disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic. 

"These youngsters have taken part in national tournaments but there is a big difference between these and international competitions," he added while thanking the parents for supporting the youngsters on their journey.

AMKA has a rich history of bringing medals and honor to Meghalaya and this is not the first time that the karatekas have traveled abroad for foreign competitions. In November 2019, Wandahunshisha Mawblei won gold for India at the 5th South Asian Karate Championship in Bangladesh. 

It needs mention here that Damang Syngkon won gold at the South Asian Games in 1999. Syngkon, Linza F Syiem, and Wandashisa Warjri won Meghalaya's only medals at the 34th National Games in 2011. 

"The Thailand Open is a big tournament that attracts many top karatekas from around the world. The last time some karatekas then went on to compete in last year's Olympic Games, so this is a golden chance for our four youngsters," AMKA General Secretary Ksan Kupar Warjri said while praising the coaches Donboklang Lyngdoh, Arjun Sewa, Linza Syiem and Mingson Rymbai. 

"I hope the karatekas do well, perform with a lot of spirits and come back and share with their fellow young karatekas all that they learned from the tournament."

The four karatekas will be taking part in their first international tournament and if they were nervous, they did not show it at the send-off. They all thanked AMKA, their coaches, and their parents for the support and hoped to do well at the event.