Nigeria departs for Taekwondo OQT

By Olalekan Okusan

The timely intervention of the Minister of Youth and Sports, Sunday Dare has made it possible for the Taekwondo team to depart today to Rabat, Morocco for the World Taekwondo (WT) Africa Qualification Tournament for Tokyo 2020, taking place from February 22 to 24 at the Complexe sportif Moulay Abdellah (Palais des sports).

The Ministry concluded all arrangements late on Tuesday as the quartet of Chinazum Nwosu, Ifeoluwa Ajayi, Elizabeth Anyanacho and Benjamin Okuomose held their last training session in Abuja.

National Coach, John Victor, already departed yesterday for Rabat, in order to participate in the World Taekwondo Coach Certification Level two course, which is a new certification required for all coaches at World Taekwondo events with G-4 and above ranking status.

President of the Nigeria Taekwondo Federation, Margaret Binga, who will lead the team to Morocco thanked the minister for the conclusion of the logistical arrangements.

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Binga, who is a two-time African Champion and participated at the Athens 2004 Olympic qualification tournament, backed the team to perform well at the tournament.

“We have a young and passionate team, led by a highly experienced technical team. Our athletes have been very brave and hardworking in training. Certainly, all they need to do is replicate the form shown in training and in competitions of late, and we will be in Tokyo. We will support them fully in order to achieve this objective.”

Team Nigeria has been in camp for the past seven weeks, and will be eager to arrive in Morocco, where hostilities will take place on February 22 and 23.

105 athletes, including 63 males and 42 females, from 36 countries are registered to participate in eight Olympic weight categories, in what is the only qualification tournament for Africa.