By ADRIAN MWANZA –
THREE Zambian Judoka’s have been given four-year scholarships to study in Hungary to prepare for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
The athletes are expected to leave for Hungary on Tuesday May 30 for the programme which will last for four years to prepare them for the Olympics.
National team coach Moola Lipimile named the three as Andrew Kaswanga, Stephen Mungandu and Mathews Punza.
Lipimile said the move would help the athletes improve on their technique and that he was sure that the move would yield results.
“The three are the ones we feel will represent the country at the Olympics and this training programme would really help them in all the aspects,” he said.
And Lipimile said only one slot was given to Zambia to take part in the Commonwealth Youth Championships slated for July 18, 2017 in Australia.
He said Simon Zimba was the only athlete that would represent the country at the event because the country was only given one slot.
“At the moment only Simon Zimba will represent the country but initially we selected a provisional team of three athletes,” he said.
Lipimile said others in Rita Fwambo and Aaron Banda were still waiting for confirmation if they will be given another slot.
He said he was confident that Zimba will perform well at the tournament because he was putting in a lot in training.
“The athlete is putting in a lot in training and I believe he will manage to mint a medal in the 60kg category,” he said.