Suzanne McTaggart
April 16, 2009
A PASSION out of
Africa has led a
Mourad Kara first
got the marbles bug as a little boy in
Dr Kara, of Chapel Allerton, said: "It's fantastic that we won the championship
again and we're really, really pleased.
"When we won last year, it was a bit of a surprise, but returning to defend our
title is a lot more nerve-wracking. We definitely felt the pressure.
"It was a tense competition but we were quite confident and we managed to
deliver on the day."
Dr Kara founded The
They scooped the team trophy and Halim, 38, the individual trophy for the second
year in a row.
They first entered the championships – held every Good Friday at the Greyhound
Inn near Crawley,
Akil, 68, flies over from Algeria every year for the contest, while the family
practice furiously for six weeks before the competition, notching up between 17
and 20 hours of training each week.
Dr Kara added: "Halim is an outstanding player and I always think it's better to
have one or two outstanding players and the rest good players. But people have
to enjoy it, because otherwise there's no point. The main purpose is getting
friends and family together and having fun."
A total of 18 teams competed in this year's games.