Sharjah gears up to host West Asian Karate Championship

The Sharjah Ladies Club's (SLC) Women Sports Department in collaboration with the UAE Taekwondo and Karate Federation and the Sharjah Sports Council will represent Sharjah in hosting the 4th Male and 2nd Female West Asian Karate Championships this coming Monday and Tuesday.

Held under the supervision of the West Asian Karate Federation (WAKF) and the UAE Taekwondo and Karate Federation, the two-day sporting event will take place at SLC's state-of-the-art gymnasium. Participating countries include the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Bahrain, Qatar, Kuwait, Oman, Palestine, Iran, Iraq, Yemen and Lebanon.

Speaking on the event, Nada Askar Al Naqbi, Director of the WAKF Championship, Chairperson of the Women's Committee in the Arab Karate Union, and Director of SLC's Women Sports Department, said: "By hosting this important regional tournament we seek to emphasise the emirate as an ideal venue for various championships and sports tournaments, while promoting healthy competition for both male and female contestants between sisterly and friendly countries. This approach falls in line with the directives of H.H Sheikha Jawaher bint Mohammed Al Qasimi, wife of H.H. the Ruler of Sharjah, and Chairperson of the Sharjah ladies Club, to raise the emirate's profile on the world's sporting map."

She added, "We also aim, through such competitions, to raise the technical and athletic skills of our female players by engaging them in sporting contests with professional athletes, encouraging them to gain the experience and expertise that qualify them to clinch the most sought-after victories in global sporting arenas."

Al Naqbi thanked Sheikha Jawaher Al Qasimi for her generous patronage of the WAKF championship at the SLC's Women Sports Department, as well as for her ongoing support for general sports and women's sports in particular.

Major Nasser Al Razooqi, President of the UAE Taekwondo and Karate Federation and Vice President of the World Karate Federation, lauded the SLC's Women Sports Department's great and rapid response to the request for hosting and organising the tournament, and stressed that the federation will continue to maintain a strong relationship with the Women Sports Department.
Source: WAM