The Sunday Mail
TRAGEDY befell the Zimbabwe Open Taekwondo Championships as the Mozambican team was involved in an accident on their way from their base in Maputo At the time of going to press details were still trickling in but information gathered was that the accident occurred in Kotwa, some 50 kilometres away from the Zimbabwe/Mozambique border.
Zimbabwean born fighter Itai Sango, and three other fighters from Mozambique sustained minor injuries and were admitted at a nearby hospital strictly as a precaution “Yes, we were indeed involved in an accident,” said Sango, when contacted by the Sunday Mail Sports last night.
“Fortunately, none of us was seriously hurt. We just had minor cuts and bruises. We should be alright.”
The accident was the only blemish on an otherwise entertaining tournament that survived even apathy as most of the clubs failed to make it to Thornhill Airbase in Gweru Of the 150 expected, only 85 turned up, seriously affecting most of the senior and ladies categories.
This, however, appeared lost on Zimbabwe Taekwondo Association president Zvizvai Benson and the guest of honour, Korean ambassador to Zimbabwe Cho Jaichel “To be honest, 85 is a really big number to what we expected in the run up to the tournament, “said Benson
“We were looking at about 36 fighters and to then get 85 is a win. It’s a sign of the ever improving economy and we look forward to getting bigger and bigger numbers in the near future.”
Ambassador Cho was so impressed by the level of competition that he extended an invitation to those that graced the Open to the Korean Ambassadors’ Cup scheduled for later this year “’I am very happy with what I saw here and had meetings with some of the instructors to discuss the possibility of entering the Ambassadors’ Cup in August
“Zimbabwean fighters are very good, disciplined and very fit; they have most of the qualities that make up good fighters,” he said.
As far as results go, defending Champion Brenda Chaor walked away with another gold as she beat out her Britney Hillman and Maidei Chimbune in category.
In the senior men’s category Tanara Nguwo, Munashe Zende Spencer Kondo, Standford Kashiri and Nomatter Chisango walked away with gold in the featherweight, lightweight, welterweight and heavyweight categories.
