MUMBAI: Akshay Kumar 1st invitational Open National Karate Championship which commenced on the 18 October saw its finale on 21 October, 2009 in Mumbai. Akshay Kumar 1st invitational Open National Karate Championship was started to provide a platform to expose young budding talent to a world class fighting event. This championship is the brainchild of Shihan Mehul Vora, a martial arts practitioner for over 27 years and an International teacher for 15 years and will mark the presence of the worldís most renowned martial artists.

The championship bouts were held right from the tender age group of 6 years, in all weight categories for both men and women. Over 2000 athletes from all over India attended this event that was sponsored by Kumar.

Vora said, "I have worked with Akshay on the 7 Deadly Arts series for the National Geographic channel, several years ago. I remember him going all out of his way for it; he was constantly shooting back to back at timings as early as 4 am for the series. He managed all this without disturbing his other schedules and never allowed his film shoots to suffer. That’s Akshay Kumar for you – that’s his passion for martial arts."

"We have received an overwhelming response and applications had been pouring in everyday. We have received almost 25,000 applications. The event you can say has turned out to be a huge success just like all of Akshay Kumar’s movies," he added.

Kumar personally awarded trophies to the top 5 demonstrators and winners of the championship. The winners were also awarded an all expense paid scholarship to study martial arts in Japan

The event was organized and assisted by a team of world class referees, judges and coaches.