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Allen Khumalo, Sports Reporter
THE Zimbabwe Kickboxing Association (Zika) has been invited by the Turkish Kickboxing Federation (TKF) to take part in the 2017 Turkish Open International Kickboxing tournament scheduled for Antalya, Turkey from April 6 to 9.

The competition will see kickboxing associations from across the world battling it out at the annual Turkish tournament.

Zika president Tony Kamangira said they will send a team of three fighters made up of veteran kick boxer Brighton Tangata, Innocent Kanokupa and up and coming youngster Walter Chiketo.

“We are sending three kick boxers and three officials to represent us in the competition.

“We did not have a selection competition to choose those three but we opted to go with their experience in terms of fighting at international level.

“We believe in those guys because they have competed in tournaments of such magnitude and they now have that feel of being exposed to international contests,” said Kamangira.

He said the association is already looking for sponsors in order to avoid a 2013 situation where the country’s five-member team failed to travel for the Turkey World Championships at the 11th hour due to financial constraints.

“Yes last time we had challenges going to the competition because we had financial challenges and there were also political disputes in Turkey so we had to cancel the trip for the safety of our fighters.

“It’s now different and even the Turkish Kickboxing Federation (TKF) assured us that it’s safe to come.

“We have already started intensive training for our kickboxing team and we are also busy looking for sponsorship in order to achieve our goal.

“I’m pretty confident that this time we are going to Turkey,” Kamangira said.

@khumzallen