29 players of Karate Do Association of Bengal (KAB) represented Bengal at the very prestigious KIO All India Karate Championship for Cadet & Junior at Dehradoon (Uttarakhand) from 20th to 22nd September 2023. Formed in 2006, Karate Do Association of Bengal (KAB), has been the most active affiliated member of the Karate India Organisation (KIO), the only national federation for the game of Karate – Do in India. KAB is also an affiliated member of the Bengal Olympic Association (BOA) and thus, the only authentic karate association in the state of West Bengal. Players of KAB has been prolific not only at the National level, they have made Bengal and India proud at the World level, Asian level, South Asian level, and Commonwealth Games also. The vison of KAB has always been to support the players and make them prosper at the various levels. KAB also provides financial benefits to the players so that money doesn’t come in between their performance. Apart from that, KAB conducts lots of activities for players, coaches and its officials from various World level and even Olympic level players and coaches, in order to sharpen their skills. Karate Do Association of Bengal (KAB), under the visionary President, HanshiPremjitSen and General Secretary, HanshiJoydebMondal, had put on exemplary efforts for the players of Bengal which resulted in some astounding results.
Overall, the Bengal team won 2 Gold, 1 Silver and 6 Bronze Medals in the toughly fought Championship. The names of the medal winners are :-
Gold Medal –
- TanushkaGhosh (Junior +66kgs Female)
- DebayushMitra, Rishab Singh and SantanuRajbanshi (Team Kata Male)
Silver Medal – - SantanuRajbanshi (Cadet Kumite -63kgs Male)
Bronze Medal – - Suvom Pal (Cadet -45kgs Kumite Male)
- Subhangi Roy (Cadet Kata Female)
- Ayushman Ray (Junior Kata Male)
- DebayushMitra (Cadet Kata Male)
- BiswajitDolui (Cadet -70kgs Kumite Male)
- Snehasree Pal (Cadet -42kgs Kumite Female)
ShihanSubhasMitra was the Team Coach of the team. All the players were provided with Train Fare, Tracksuits, Accomodation, Fooding and Participation Fees by KAB in order to release the financial burden from the players. KAB has always stood beside its players, coaches and officials by providing financial assistance to them and helping them in the time of need, like the pandemic. KAB has also provided Rs. 100000/- to the Chief Minister’s Relief Fund during the Covid19 Coronovirus pandemic. Not only this, KAB also conducts free self defence workshops and various other social activities under its various District affiliates. Lastly, our President of KAB, HanshiPremjitSen is one of the most popular sportsman, not only in Bengal, but also in India. He is the first Bengali to become a Grade A Referee & Judge both in World Karate Federation (WKF) and Asian Karate Do Federation (AKF). He has been awarded with the “Times Men of the Year 2022” and “Times Bengal Icon of the Year 2023” by the most popular media-house, The Times of India Group. He has taken the game of Karate at its peak in Bengal, by his hard work, determination and sincerity.