Bhubaneswar gears up for Kickboxing Nationals

Temple city Bhubaneswar is gearing up to host the 14th Sub-junior, 15th Senior and 1st Veteran National Kickboxing Championships at KIIT University Indoor Stadium from October 1 to 4, under the auspices of All Orissa Kickboxing Association (AOKA), Indian Association of Kickboxing Organisations (IAKO), Pumas International, Rotary Club of Bhubaneswar, KIIT Universithy and Bharatiya Vidya Bhawan. Over 800 kickboxers from different states and army and police units would vie for medals in 96 ring and tatami events, including 56 in senior and 32 in sub-junior categories, organizing committee officials said at a media conference in Bhubaneswar today. Age limitation for sub-junior is 10 to 15 years and that of veteran above 40 years. A budget of Rs 9 lakhs has been estimated for the conduct of the championships. The National body (IAKO) has committed to provide a financial assistance of Rs 3 lakhs. IAKO founder president S S Harichandan claimed that kickboxing has gained wider acceptance and popularity in recent years. ``Kickboxing is being practiced in more than 100 countries under the control of World Association of Kickboxing Organisations (WAKO), which is a member of General Association of International Sports Federations (GAISF) in the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Kickboxing was included in the 2nd Indoor Asian Games in 2007 at Macau, where India bagged 2 silver and 6 bronze medals. Kickboxing also found place in the 1st Asian Martial Arts Games in August 2009 at Bangkok, where India won one gold and three bronze medals,’’ he claimed. ``India will be sending its kickboxing squad for the 3rd Asian Indoor Games to be held at Vietnam in October 2009. Meanwhile, kickboxing has found a place in the World Martial Arts Games to be held at Beijing in 2010,’’ Harichandan added. AOKA general secretary Pradyumna Behera expressed confidence that host Orissa would put up its best performance in the ensuing National championships. ``Orissa earlier won the senior National championships four times and sub-junior Nationals five times. This time our kickboxers are looking forward to live up to their reputation,’’ he maintained. Championship coordination committee chairman Aswini Kar, Reception Committee chairman B L Bagra, AOKA president Shivananda Ray and Finance Committee chairman Kamala Kanta Das were present at the media conference. PHOTOS: Officials of the organizing committee brief about the National Kickboxing Championships at the media conference in Bhubaneswar on Sept 20, 2009.