Times Of Swaziland: ESWATINI ARE HALLELUJAH TKD CHAMPS

ESWATINI ARE HALLELUJAH TKD CHAMPS
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BY THEMBA ZWANE on 08/04/2019 08:30:00


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.