Lankan karatekas impress in Kerala
View(s):Four Sri Lankan karatekas – Lahiru Sandaruwan, Supun Perera, Yasath de Silva and Sampath Bandara – brought honour to their motherland with impressive records at the International Full Contact Martial Arts Tournament organised by Black Dragon Martial Arts Academy and held in Thrissur, Kerala in India. The Lankan team of four fighters led by Sensei Sampath Lasantha from IFK Kyokushin in Sri Lanka, managed to win medals in the events they competed.
Lankan Karatekas with their trophies
Sandaruwan competing under the 55kg to 60kg weight class won the championship while Perera and de Silva emerged runners-up in their respective weight categories – the 65kg to 70kg and 75kg to 80kg. Bandara competing in the Heavyweight class was placed third.
Around 300 contestants from selected countries across South Asia participated in the tournament in 12 weight classes. This was the first time such a tournament was organised by India and five Asian countries including UAE, Nepal, India and Sri Lanka participated in the event. The fights ware conducted under kickboxing rules where players from organisations of multiple disciplines such as Kickboxing, Taekwondo, Korean Kempo, Power Karate, Indian Kyokushin Karate, JeetKune do and MMA.
It was also a great achievement that Supun Perera was selected for the upcoming Indian Premier League (IPL) tournament for Martial Arts to be held in India in near future and this is the first time such a player was selected from Sri Lanka for this event.