African Champion, Rita Ogene has expressed happiness over her new status as the world’s number 27, which came after her feats in Egypt last year.
Rita Ogene beat Egypt’s Elhawary Yasmin in the -68kg women’s class at the 2021 UFAK Championship in Egypt.
Speaking with www.aclsports.com on Saturday, the multiple times National Champion stated that her latest ranking would keep her abreast of the challenges that await her at the 2022 Karate Commonwealth Games in August
She said, “Indeed, words cannot express how happy I feel after I saw the latest ranking on the World Karate Federation website that I am world 27 in the -69kg. I feel grace found me because there are great fighters and national champions who could not achieve this before they retired. My heart is filled with gratitude that the hard work paid off.
“This is the starting point of my career; if I can get to 27 on the ranking, then I can be World Number 1 soon. This has further motivated me to train hard this year and qualify for the next Olympic Games.”
Ogene told www.aclsports.com that fighting Elhawary Yasmin of Egypt at the finals of the 2021 UFAK Championships was a huge task.
She said, “What was running through my mind during the finals was that this gold must not evade me the second time. Two years ago, Yasmin beat me in the finals with 2 seconds to go at the last championship in Morocco but this time around, I was hell bent on beating her.”
“Technically, our coaches are doing their best and it is of a world standard. However, one thing I believe will help greatly is constant exposure in those international championships.
“Karate is too dynamic to dwell in a static knowledge. One needs to update every time and that is by attending international events. Thereby knowing what is new and implementing immediately for the next championship”, she ended.
