Malawi shines at Zimbabwe tourney
Malawian athletes took the 2017 Korean Ambassador’s Taekwondo Championship in Harare, Zimbabwe, by storm with outstanding performances that won them two gold medals over the weekend.
Joseph Phiri Junior shook off stiff competition from 16 contestants—drawn from Swaziland, Lesotho, Mozambique and Botswana— to win gold in the men’s -68 kilogrammeme category.
Vester Banda also came out tops in the -57 kilogram women’s event comprising eight competitors.
Banda also received the best senior female fighter accolade and has returned home with a trophy besides the gold medal.
Malawi Head Coach, Lovemore Masinga, and athletes’ representative, Typen Kamanga, also received silver medals for their team’s performance.
Masinga said the athletes’ performance is an indication of the strides that the sport is making in the country ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games in Japan.
“We struggled to raise resources to go there; so, we are more than happy to be returning home with all these accolades. We will try to compete in as many international tournaments as possible to help our athletes improve their performance,” he said.
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