Pronk won silver at African Beach Games

Twenty-seven-year-old Karate champion Suzelle Pronk from Swakopmund has been making a name for herself, and Namibia, in the international karate circuit over the past few years.

This past weekend she once again made her country proud. She came in second for Senior Female Kata at the first African Beach Games in Sal, Cape Verde.
Having started karate at the tender age of 5, Suzelle has now been practicing karate for 22 years and is currently a 3rd Dan (Sandan) in Shotokan Karate. Suzelle trains directly under Sensei Valdemar Swart of the SKAI Swakopmund Dojo and has been the Captain of the Namibia National Karate Team since 2018.
Suzelle is also currently the highest ranked Namibian Karate Athlete with regards to WKF points, which are crucial if she is to one day qualify for the Olympic Games.
This year has thus been an eventful year for Suzelle as she participated in two K1 Premier League Karate Events (Dubai and Morocco).
At the 2019 Region 5 Karate Championships which were held in Swakopmund, Namibia, Suzelle took home two silver and one bronze medal. This past weekend, she again made history having been the only Namibian Karate athlete selected to participate in the first African Beach Games.
However, simply participating was not enough for Suzelle and she set out to dominate her competition, ultimately finishing second overall following Morocco’s Sanae Agalmam.
When asked to comment on her success Suzelle stated, “this was a first for karate and it was an amazing feeling being a part of it all. I am happy with the performance, Coach Llewellyn Manale and I had a game plan (with a coach) and it payed off, but of course there is a lot of room for improvement. The games over-all were very well organized and a great experience.
Thank you Coach Llewellyn for keeping me cool and calm throughout! I also want to extend a huge thank you to the Namibian Olympic Committee for supporting the athletes and making this possible”.
“The ultimate goal is to keep growing as an athlete and continue representing Namibia as much as possible throughout 2019, and going forward. I hope to better my WKF world ranking by the end of 2019 and in doing so, my first goal will be the upcoming Junior and Senior Africa Karate Championships in July where I hope to improve on last year’s performance (7th Overall)”.
Suzelle will continue to train with National Coach, Sensei Llewellyn Manale and the rest of the Namibian National Team in preparation for the African Karate Championships which will be held from 9 to 15 July in Gaborone, Botswana.