22-yr-old Suyog Sonawane won gold in championship held at Salem, Tamil Nadu

Airoli resident Suyog Sonawane has won gold medal at the World Martial Arts Championship that was conducted at Salem in Tamil Nadu. The championship was conducted by the World All Martial Art Federation in which 39 countries participated. There were two forms of Karate which were competed in the championship - Kumite and Kata and Suyog won the gold medal in Kumite, which is a form of fighting.

The 22-year-old competed in the 60-65 kg weight category and had to play six rounds including the final match to win the title. His opponent in the final match was from Ghana. Suyog said, "It was a wonderful experience and I got an opportunity to fight against karatekas from different countries and also got to know how they train. This helped me know how well I was playing and which are the areas I need to work on and improve myself."

Suyog started taking karate classes five years ago. Once he started winning the matches in the classes against other students, he gained confidence to play tournaments at higher levels. He then took part in the national-level tournament for the first time in the year 2005 and then in the year 2008. "After winning laurels in these tournaments, I gained the confidence to participate in the World Championship," he added.

He further says, "Karate has been my hobby and I always fantasised of wearing a karate uniform and fighting but could not take it up seriously in school as I was always occupied with some or the other activity when I was in school. After I joined college (Bedekar College, Thane) I met my coach Kalpesh Kamble through my brother and started taking the game seriously."

Suyog works in the software department of Genesis International Corporation in Seepz and says that he plans to have a good career in the software and also wants be a well known name in the field of Karate. His father, Vikas Sonawane, says, "We all are proud of his achievement. I am happy that my son could get the required amount of exposure since it is very important as it helps to know lot of techniques required to excel in any sport and he just got the taste of the techniques of 39 countries."

Aarti Kini/ DNA-Daily News & Analysis Source: 3D Syndication