Four Lankans for 'Kudo World Cup'

by S.M. Jiffrey ABDEEN - Kandy Sports Corr.

KUDO WORLD CUP: A six-member team comprising two officials and four competitors will leave the island on February 16 to participate at the 1st Kudo World Cup championships at the invitation of Kudo Federation of Russia which will be held in Moscow from February 19. Over fifty countries will participate.

The two officials representing Sri Lanka will be Shihan J.M. Mohideen and Team Manager Sensei S.H.M. Shiyam who will also be the coach for Sri Lanka and the Maldives.

The participating team will be M. Arshaq Ali (Category - 240 Physical Index). Harsha Weerasooriya. (Category - 230 Physical Index), M. Safdar Ali (category - 230 Physical Index) and A.D. N. de Silva (category - 230 Physical Index). Twenty one-year-old Arshaq Ali is an old boy of Kingswood College and is a gold medallist at the Inter Continental martial arts championship organised by World Union for Karate do organisation and held in Hyderabad, India last year.

Twenty-four-year Harsha Weerasooriya is visually handicapped and from the Deaf and Dumb School in Dodanwela in Kandy. He has excelled at national championships and he will fight in the open category.

Nineteen-year-old M. Safdar Ali is a schoolboy from Kingswood College, Kandy, where he excelled in martial arts and in sports like hockey and soccer.

He is a member of the Sri Lanka Schools Karate pool. At school level he has a rich haul of gold medals and one of the brightest prospects to bring a gold for Sri Lanka. Twenty five-year-old Anushka de Silva is an old boy of Sri Sumangala College, Kandy and has excelled in Karate at provincial level.

This four member team is a blend of youth and experience and should bring honours to the country in which over fifty countries are expected to participate.

Harsha Weerasooriya and Arshaq Ali who are presently under going training in Japan will join the Sri Lankan team in time for the championship.