Egypt's Karate national team celebrated by Sports minister at Al-Ahram
With the attendance of Egypt's sports minister Khaled Abdel-Aziz on Monday, Egypt's state-owned Al-Ahram celebrated the country's under-20 and under-21 karate teams for their achievements at the World Championship.
In a ceremony held at Al-Ahram headquarters in Cairo, Abdel-Aziz expressed appreciation for the karatekas' achievement at the tournament, which took place in Indonesia, after the young pharaohs finished third.
The young Pharaohs topped the World Championship in the number of trophies with 21 medals; six gold, eight silver and seven bronze.
Japan led the general ranking after winning eight gold medals and Turkey got second place with seven.
"The World Karate Federation head told me that he could not understand how Egypt's karate athletes grew up so quickly," Khaled Abdel-Aziz added.
The sports minister also expressed joy over the spread of karate in Egypt, saying that that the sport improves players' sense of responsibility and organisation.
"Karate is the most popular game in Egypt, as we have one million athletes registered in the Association lists so far," he said.
Sponsored by Al-Ahram, Egypt will host the karate grand prix tournament in Sharm El-Sheikh from 26 to 28 February, with teams currently registering their attendance.
"I hope Egyptians do their best in the world tournament in Sharm El-Sheikh," Abdel-Aziz concluded.
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