By Olalekan Okusan
The list of potential opponents of Nigeria’s sole flagbearers in the taekwondo event of Tokyo Olympic Games, Elizabeth Anyanacho continued to swell after Tonga’s Malia Paseka secured the sole Olympic slot for the female -67kg category at the Oceanic Continental qualification tournament at the weekend.
Anyanacho field of opponents for Olympics is slowly taking shape as Paseka, who was a Bronze medalist at the 2019 Pacific Games, will be Tonga’s first ever female Taekwondo Olympian and will join the country’s Taekwondo super star, Pita Taufatofua who also secured a ticket in the male +80kg category.
20-year-old Anyanacho became the first woman in 16 years and second woman ever when she clinched the Tokyo 2020 Olympic ticket at the recently concluded African Qualification tournament in Rabat Morocco.
For the Taekwondo event of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, there are a total of 128 slots available to be secured – 120 for qualification places, 4 for the hosts – Japan and 4 Tripartite Commission Invitation Places.
Every weight category has 16 contestants, ensuring that all contestants will be known well before the Olympic begins.
Anyanacho’s nine contestants have already been determined in the female -67kg, where she is qualified to compete.
The first six athletes to qualify, based on their Olympic ranking, were Ruth Gbagbi of Cote D’ivoire, Croatia’s Matea Jelic, Turkey’s Nur Tatar Askari, Great Britain’s Lauren Williams, China’s Mengyu Zhang and Paige Mc Pherson of the USA.Egypt’s Hedaya Malak qualified alongside Anyanacho through the African Qualification Tournament, held in Rabat Morocco a fortnight ago while Paseka has joined the growing list of women -67kg competitors after qualifying through the Oceania qualification tournament.
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