By GRACE CHAILE –
ZAMBIA Judo Association (ZJA) president, Alfred Foloko has expressed happiness with the performance of the four judokas at the African Junior and Cadet Championship in Tunisia.
The judokas reaped two bronze medals through Abigail Chindele in the under-48kg category and Mary Kanyemba in the 44kg at the tournament held from March 21 to 23 in Tunis.
Foloko said in an interview that the judokas should be commended for their performance looking at the stiff competition at the championship.
“The Judokas performed fairly well in Tunisia and we are now focusing on the upcoming events to ensure Zambia records more success and wins medals,” he said.
Meanwhile, Foloko expressed sadness with the below par performance by Nokutula Banda, who will be representing Zambia at the Nanjing 2014 Youth Olympic Games to be held from august 16 to 28 in China.
Foloko said there was need for the coaches to work on the judoka before she goes for the competition.
“The performance of Banda was not impressive and that should act as a wakeup call to the technical bench. It is good that the coach was also in Tunisia and noticed Banda’s performance and should ensure she is in top form ahead of the Games,” he said.
Banda failed to get a medal in the under-57kg women category while Joshua Nyondo settled for fifth position in the men’s under-55kg event.
Foloko said the ZJA next month send a team to compete at the Swaziland Open Judo Championship which will act as preparations for the Africa Youth Games slated for May in Botswana.