Gurgaon, 27 February 2024

Eight-year-old Gurgaon resident Viraj Katyayan won a silver medal in the inaugural UAE International Karate Open Championship, which took place in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates. In this competition, which took place between February 16–18, 2024, India managed to take home four gold, six silver, and fourteen bronze medals. Karan Khaturia, Viraj’s coach, has sent him best wishes for the future. He stated that Viraj will undoubtedly win a gold medal for the nation in the future because of his great potential at such a young age. Under the direction of Chief Mentor of India Karate team Bharat Sharma, KIO President Vijay Tiwari, and General Secretary Sanjeev Kumar Jangda, the Indian team competed in this event.

Viraj Katyayan competed in the Individual Kumite 8 years event, winning the silver medal in the 31 kg weight class. Eight players were able to take home medals from this competition. Gurgaon native Viraj
In addition, Mayank earned the silver medal in the cadet division’s 57 kg Individual Kumite weight category, while Deepika Dhiman won the gold medal in the senior division’s 61 kg weight category. The bronze medal winners for the nation were Senior Individual Kumite competitors Pranay Sharma (75 kg) and Ritika (68 kg), Junior Individual Kumite competitor Harshit Sharma (61 kg), Under-14 Individual Kumite competitor Toushi Sharma (52 kg), and 12-year-old Individual Kumite competitor Manisha (40 kg).

Gold medal was won by Tamil Nadu’s Dhev A Kishan, Uttar Pradesh’s Arham Khan, and Uttarakhand’s Sushil Singh. Ashvi Mohota of Maharashtra, Danushka Pratap of Tamil Nadu, and Sneha Banjare of Chhattisgarh all took home silver medals in the Kata-Kumite competition. Amitabh Singh Baghel and Meenakshi Kashyap of Madhya Pradesh, Vishi Vijay of Uttar Pradesh, Deep Vashishtha, Saanvi Memon, and Vrinda Memon of Haryana, and Chaitanya Seth, Ashvi Mohota, and Emmanuel Philip of Maharashtra won bronze medals.