THE Zimbabwe Kickboxing Association are scheduled to hold their first tournament of the year when they stage the Battle of Champions tournament this weekend in Mutare. The competition, which was originally scheduled for last Saturday, was moved to March 3, due to other commitments and is set to feature fighters from different provinces.

Zika president, Tony Kamangira, said they were going to use the event to select 10 best fighters to come up with a national team, which will represent the country in continental and international events.

“This tournament is for all provinces and so far Mashonaland East, Matabeleland South, Midlands, Harare and Mutare have confirmed their participation.

“It’s an open tournament and each province can bring as many fighters as they can. We want to select a national team that will represent the nation in continental and international events,” said Kamangira.

Kamangira said after the Battle of Champions they are going to hold more tournaments in other provinces in preparation of the African championships to be held in Madagascar from 23 to 29 April.

“After Mutare we are going to Beitbridge for another tournament where we will select more fighters. It’s a process in which we want to get the best. We want to give everyone the chance to showcase their talent.

“In the past years we have been having most of our tournaments in Harare but we have decided to spread and promote the sport in other provinces.

“We have guys from Beitbridge who have been doing very well such as Forget Murazvu and Ngonidzashe Maphosa. They participated in tournaments that were held last year.

“We are expecting a tough and competitive event because everyone wants to make it into the national team. We also have upcoming fighters who will be taking part,” said Kamangira.

The selected team will battle it out in the Great North One tournament in South Africa on March 31.

“We are hoping to select a team of 10 fighters who will take part in the Great North One to be held in Pretoria, South Africa, on March 31.

“We will use that competition to assess our fighters and see if they have improved their skills as we prepare for the African championships.

“We are expecting to send all the 10 fighters that will compete in South Africa because if we send a bigger number we have the chance to get more medals,” added Kamangira.

Some of the fighters to compete in the Battle of Champions include seasoned fighters such as Brighton Tangata, Absolom Chiturumane, Nicholas Kurimira and Ronald Deketeke.