East Singhbhum claimed 13 medals -- eight gold, four silver and one bronze -- to emerge champions in the second Jharkhand State E-Kata Karate Championship held virtually as part of Olympic Day celebrations on June 22 and 23.

Ranchi finished runner-up with 9 medals -- 2 gold, 3 silver and 4 bronze while West Singhbhum claimed the third position by winning 7 medals -- 2 gold, as many silver and 3 bronze.

Bokaro, on the other hand, had to be satisfied with the fourth spot with 5 medals -- 2 silver and 3 bronze -- in the event organised by Jharkhand State Karate Do Association (JSKA), an affiliated unit of Karate Association of India (KAI), in association with Tata Steel sports wing.

Trainees of Tata Steel Karate Training Centre also performed well during the championship.

"A total of 275 karatekas from 18 districts participated in the championship which concluded late Wednesday evening. The event played in kata style was officiated by 20 referees," said JSKA general secretary L. Nageshwar Rao.

According to him, they wanted to put karatekas of different districts into action as they remained indoors owing to Covid-19 pandemic. "The championship was conducted successfully. We thank the dignitaries for their support and blessings," Rao, chief coach of the Tata Steel karate cradle said.

The tournament was inaugurated by chief guest Farzan Heerjee, chief, (protocol and sports), Tata Steel in the presence of R. Ravi Prasad, president of JSKA, Mukul Vinayak Choudhari, chief (sports excellence centre), Tata Steel, Ashish Kumar, head (sports), Tata Steel and Anand Menezes, Olympian and senior manager (sports) of the company.

Nitin Kulkarni, IAS and Ashu Shukla, DIG, CRPF, Jamshedpur, were the guests of honour at the closing ceremony on Wednesday evening.

The dignitaries appreciated the championship and thanked all the participants who took part from their homes in a disciplined manner.