Nkosinathi, Sphelele thrill in Taekwondo Championship
MANZINI – They were just exceptional! The duo of Nkosinathi Mthembu and Sphelele Mkhabela, who among others received gold medals during the Back to Action Taekwondo Championship were simply marvellous. The first tournament hosted by the Eswatini Taekwondo Federation (ETF) was held yesterday.
Over 70 karate stars turned up for the competition. Despite a late start due to the influx of artists who had to register on the day, the tournament was a success. The artists started by doing what is called poomsae. It is a set sequence of movement that consists of various fundamental stances, blocks, punches and kicks, logically arranged in a meaningful way or order in response to attacks from imaginary assailants.
Mthembu and Mkhabela performed the poomsae well such that they came first in their respective categories. Mthembu was the winner in the senior men category, while Sphelele shone in the senior ladies category. Mthembu said he was happy with his achievement.
“The reason I won is because I executed all kicks and stances well. I am positive that I will win more medals in other tournaments to come,” Mthembu said.
The lady champion, Mkhabela, said she was happy to be back in action.
“COVID-19 had disturbed most sports, and ours as a contact sport was categorised as high risk, thus we had to stop. This is good and I am looking forward to getting more medals,” she said.
Besides the two, there were plenty other medal winners, but the full list had not yet been compiled by the federation. After the poomsae event, the real action started, Next Generation’s Lindokuhle Shongwe managed to outsmart Global Elite Taekwondo Club’s Fareeha Farouk. The second fight was between Khulisa Venter and Khulisa Maziya which was won by the former.
More reports and results in next edition ...