Eight karatekas will be representing Jharkhand at the National E-Kata Karate Championship which will be conducted on a virtual platform from August 25 to 27.

The three-day event is being organised by the Karate Association of India (KAI) to mark Sir Dorabji Tata’s birth anniversary and National Sports Day. The championship will be hosted by Jharkhand State Karate Do Association (JSKA) and will be supported by Tata Steel sports wing, Jamshedpur.

The state karate outfit selected the Jharkhand squad after a day-long trial organised at JRD Tata Sports Complex on August 8. Forty-eight karatekas from different districts of the state participated in the trial which had five qualified judges to select the representatives.

The selected karatekas include Ishan Singh, Pranab Paul, Adarsh Kumar Singh, Niraj Kumar, Bandana Singh (all from East Singhbhum), Vaishnavi, Poonam Munda (both from Ranchi) and Somari Hembrom (West Singhbhum The nationals will be conducted in the under-13 to above 18 age group. Four of the selected karatekas are from Tata Steel Karate Training Centre.

According to JSKA general secretary Shihan L. Nageshwar Rao, 240 karatekas (120 boys and as many girls) from 30 states will participate in the national meet. The event will be hosted in compliance with the guidelines and rules and regulations of World Karate Federation (WKF) and Asian Karate Do Federation (AKF) under qualified judges of world and Asia bodies.

Rao, coach at Tata Steel karate cradle said Jharkhand karatekas are expected to win medals at the national meet. “Our players are in form and are expected to do well. We are very optimistic about it,” he added.

The cradle at JRD Tata Sports Complex have performed well at state and national championships. Rao, on his part, has produced several talented karatekas. “There is no dearth of talented karatekas in Jharkhand. They can come up with good performance through proper guidance,” Rao said.