Lucknow, Sep 20 (IANS): The Ultimate Karate League (UKL) that was earlier scheduled to be held in Mumbai, has now been shifted to Lucknow.
The event will be held from December 3 to December 12 at Babu Banarsi Das Badminton Academy in Lucknow.
IPKC Chairman Sensei Rajeev Sinha said that Lucknow is emerging as a major sports hub with substantial support from the government. This has influenced the decision of shifting the event to Lucknow, he added.
While all the combat sports of the world have individual matches, UKL is a unique match format that has changed the individual sport into a team sport where one player is pitched against three opponents.
There are three sets and each set consists of 9 bouts. The three sets of matches are completed in 45 minutes, including slow-motion and commercial breaks. Only the knockdown by combination of techniques registers a score.
Each of the team consists of 5 male and 1 female players. In the event of an equalizer, the women's individual match decides the final result.
The Ultimate Karate League has six franchise-based teams with each team having World Champions and European Champions as Marquee players. Each Team consists of five male and one female athlete.
The teams include, UP Rebels, Delhi Bravehearts, Mumbai Ninjas, Punjabi Fighters, Bengaluru Kings and Pune Samurai.
All the matches shall be telecast live on multiple platforms across the world for two hours every day.
In addition to the foreign players, UKL in Lucknow is likely to be attended by a number of foreign dignitaries, including senators and ministers from European countries.
"The main purpose of establishing UKL was to trigger an aspirational-connect amongst the existing and future karate practitioners. It is noteworthy that there are over 4 crore practitioners of karate around the country who pay to learn and compete. With UKL in place, we expect a steep rise in its following in India" said Sensei Rajeev Sinha, chairman of Indian Professional Karate Council (IPKC).
Successful hosting of the League shall help Lucknow to win the hosting right of 2024 World Championship, said World Body Director Petr Suja.