8 THE VOICE, THURSDAY, FEB, 26 2015 EDITOR SANDY POWLIK S$) orts Karate kid wants the world Langara student John Sawal has his sights set on the World Juniors By TONY SU angara criminal justice student, John Sawal will be training hard for the month of March to prepare himself for the Karate USA Open & Junior Interna- tional Cup this coming April in Las Vegas, NV. The 18-year-old karate practitioner, or karateka, has placed in the top two in every competition he has partici- pated in. Sawal captured a silver medal in both the indi- vidual male Seniors and Under 21 categories at the Kara- te Canada 2015 National Championships in Richmond last month. His team took home gold in both categories. Following a strong display at the nationals in January, Saw- al is looking to carry the momentum forward into future tournaments. Karate is not popular and lacks the funding it needs in Canada. In order to participate in tournaments, Sawal will have to personally raise the funds. Fortunately for Sawal, the most recent tourna- ment was held in Richmond and he was able to avoid travelling fees. However, he will have to pay his own way to Las Vegas in April. “Thave to support myself for all these events,” Sawal said. He currently works at Canadian Tire. TONY SU photo Langara student John Sawal is training in hopes of competing on the world stage in November. His next tournament is in April in Las Vegas. It will be important for Sawal to cap- ture gold or silver in Las Vegas, as his goal is to represent Canada in Novem- ber at the World Junior & Cadet and U21 Karate Championships in Indone- sia. Only one person from Canada will be selected to go. “Karate BC has developed a point sys tem, the athlete with the most [points] at the end of October gets to go to Jakarta,” Sawal said. Points are distributed and won throughout national tournaments. First place winners get 60 points and second place win- < ners get 40 points. Saw- al earned 40 points in January with his individual — sec- ond place fin- ish. Sawal has been practicing karate since the age of eight. His coach Nicole Poirier will be training him in preparation for the USA Open. He has an “attitude of a champion,” said Poiri- er, adding Sawal has a good chance of repre- senting Canada at the World Juniors if he contin- ues his strong performance. “He’s definitely in the top,” Poirier — said. “Every year he’s shown im- prove- ments.” Cricket fever catches One billion viewers tuned in to watch this year’s Cricket World Cup, making it the most viewed sports event ever By JOCELYN ASPA lar sport to watch in Vancouver, but for many new and lifelong fans, cricket fever is thriving with this year’s Cricket World Cup. The International Cricket Council’s tournament began on Feb. 14 and runs to March 28. It is a hit in Vancouver’s South Asian community, whether peo- ple are flocking to restaurants to watch matches or watching at home with friends. According to local cricket enthusiast Adil Khan, cricket is the second most popular sport in the world after soccer. “Cricket is wildly popular in South Asia and has served as a political tool many times in the past,” Khan said. The match between India and Pakistan attracted over one billion viewers, beating out the Super Bowl, which typi- cally draws around 110 million viewers. While cricket’s popularity in num- bers is often overlooked, “once you un- derstand it, you are in,” according to All India Sweets & Restaurant server, Sunny Dhiman. “Every ball, every second is back- C's may not be the most popu- bone chilling,” he said. For the World Cup, Dhiman said he usually gets together with friends on weekends to watch matches. The same goes for Mark Stephenson, a new fan, who has watched most of this year’s games at home. Although he is not cheering for a specific coun- try, he said watching the India vs Paki- stan match opened his eyes to the game’s intensity. “Just watching the passion from the players and fans, you could really see the rivalry,” Stephenson said. “Tt would be nice for India to win [the World Cup] since there aren’t many sports where they are truly one of the best in the world.” House of Dosas on Kingsway offers a lively experience for cricket fans, but there is often a waiting list to get in on match nights. “We are one of the only restaurants that shows cricket 24/7,” said Sharvan Ramachandran, who sometimes helps out at House of Dosas, his family’s op- erated business. “When we don’t show cricket, we show hockey. But cricket is number one.” KARATE 2015 events 1 PKF SENIOR CHAMPION- SHIPS MARCH 18 to 21 Toronto, ON 2 USA OPEN & JUNIOR INTER- NATIONAL CUP APRIL to 15 Las Vegas, NV 3 KARATE1 YOUTH WORLD CUP JUNE 29 to JULY 5 Umag, Croatia 4 ran AMERICAN GAMES JULY 23 to 25 Toronto, ON 5 PKF JUNIOR & CADET CHAM- PIONSHIPS AUG. 24 to 30 Santa Cruz, Bolivia 6 JUNIOR & CADET AND U21WORLDS NOV. 12 to 15 Jakarta, Indonesia Source: www.wkf.net NA <4 Ay ‘oe \ SS > \ ae 5 ~ JSOCELYN ASPA photos Sharvan Ramachandran chips in at his family’s restaurant, House of Dosas on Kingsway during the Cricket World Cup. Cricket enthusiasts may have to wait in line to watch the games at House of Dosas. Attendance at Falcons games could use a boost Langara fans’ loyalty is uncertain, but nothing a social media can’t help By MONA BUTLER everal factors come into play S:« it comes to the loyalty of Langara Falcons fans to their teams. What time and where the games are played and knowledge of the games play an important role in whether or not the games are well attended. Langara psychology student Jose Du has not been to a Falcons game before. “T don’t really hear about it that much and I’m usually busy with work and school,” he said. Du said that if the games were more heavily advertised on social media, he would most likely attend. According to Paul Eberhardt, the men’s basketball coach, Langara’s gym seats 120 people. “The gym is so small, it always feels like a sell out. It’s always loud,” he said. The men’s basket- ns : ball team’s high at- tendance is due to the success it has had in the last few years, Eberhardt said. He said the team also has many s loyal friends and PAUL EBERHARDT parents who come Mens’ basketball out to cheer the head coach players on. However, the r4 4 women’s basketball games tend to be ° less popular. The gym 1s Eberhardt said so small, the lower atten- + dance at the wom- ut always en’s games is mainly feels like a because of the earli- sell out er game time. Women’s soccer coach Ryan Birt said that soccer usual- ly has low attendance with only a few friends, family and occasional alumni coming out to support the team. Birt does not see a preference for the men’s team over the women’s as with basketball when it comes to soccer be- cause both teams share the same issue of playing their games off-campus. “T feel that the biggest stumbling block for our soccer teams getting big- ger crowds is that we lack an on-cam- pus field where students could easily access the games,” said Birt. “We play our games quite some distance from the campus, which creates a problem.” & Falcons’ Tally =r MEN'S WOMEN'S BASKETBALL BASKETBALL Feb. 20 Feb. 20 Capilano 68 Capilano 80 Langara 90 Langara 59 Feb. 21 Feb. 21 Quest 87 Quest 82 Langara 101 Langara 54 W-L W-L 16-3 2-17 Ranked: 2nd Ranked: 8th BADMINTON Ranked: 1st