Hosts Rwanda dominated the inaugural regional Taekwondo tournament dubbed ‘Ambassador’s Cup’ that took place over the weekend at Amahoro indoor stadium in Kigali.
The Rwandans won 11 out of 20 medals up for grabs.
The two-day tournament attracted four other countries namely; Burundi, DR Congo, Kenya and Uganda.
In total 170 players took part in the competition, more than a half of them from Rwanda.
The competition saw fighters divided into categories according their weights; Featherweight (-68kgs), Bantam (-63kgs), Fly (-58kgs) and Fin (-54kgs).
The Rwanda Taekwondo Federation Secretary General, Placide Bagabo, who also won a medal in the men’s Bantam (-63kgs) category, told Times Sport, “This tournament represents a very important step forward for Rwandan Taekwondo.”
“The tournament was very tough, all countries brought competitive athletes but we prepared well enough and our hard work paid off,” Bagabo added.
Rwanda won three of the four categories; men’s adult category and both junior categories (boys and girls) while Kenya dominated the women’s category.
Team Ugandan won the fair play award, while upcoming team award went to Burundi, with Kenya winning the most disciplined team award.
By Richard Bishumba,The New Times