Kota Kinabalu: Two karatekas from Sabah will test their mettle in the inaugural KyokushinRyu World Tournament in the Philippines.
Ericcory Lovejoy Akisin and Zachenzie Zifyon Douni will represent Malaysia in the two-day event that will start today (Saturday) at the Caloocan Sports Complex.
Both will compete in the full contact bare knuckle category – Zachenzie in the Below-90kg, while Ericcory in the Below-75kg.
Zachenzie said the preparation for the fight focussed on discipline and hard work.
“I hope all my hard work will pay off. I would love to make Malaysia proud,” he said.
As for Ericcory, they trained as a team during the preparation for the tournament.
“We did a lot of cardio trainings, sharpening our techniques and conditioning our bodies.
“I hope I can make it to the top for Malaysia,” said Ericcory.
Both karatekas are the first batch of Uchideshi, or fulltime in-house trainees, who had undergone full Kyokushin training for six months last year.
They had also earned their 1st Dan black belt in KyokushinRyu.
The competition in the Philippines will be participated by exponents from 14 countries.
Among the participating countries are Malaysia, the Philippines, China, Japan, Iran, Russia and Kazakhstan.
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