ESWATINI ARE HALLELUJAH TKD CHAMPS

MBABANE – Local martial arts continue hoisting the country flag across the borders.

Yesterday, a taekwondo team returned home with 10 gold medals, eight silver medals and seven bronze medals after excelling in South Africa. Next Generation Taekwondo Club, in combination with martial artists from HMSC Taekwondo Club and Swazi Tigers Taekwondo Club, had participated at the Hallelujah Taekwondo Championships held in Pretoria, South Africa. The competition took place at the Jonibach Sports Centre and the team had left this past Friday. Apart from the 15 medals the team brought home, they received the most prestigious trophy for being champions of the overall tournament. On top of these honours, 11-year-old Sihlelelwe Matsebula received a trophy for being the best player of the U13s category for the patterns class. The Eswatini Taekwondo Federation Vice-President Sizwe Mabuza was honoured for being the best player in the seniors’ category.

The president of the federation Zakhele Dlamini was awarded as the best referee among other two local referees who had also officiated during the championships. Local national team player Thandukukhanya Dlamini, who was nominated under two categories of the recent national sports awards also got first position in his category. He is the current undisputed champion of the 68kg category doubling as the sparring discipline coach. A total of seven countries participated during the championships and they include South Africa, Malawi, Botswana, Mozambique, Lesotho, Gabon and Eswatini. The vice president said the main reason they participated was to give exposure to their upcoming artists as many are from newly-formed academies. “We are very happy with the results, they exceeded our expectations,” he said. He said they appreciated the support of parents and highlighted that there were no injuries sustained by the local team during the competition. Dlamini said the international experience would help the returning clubs dominate in the country.

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