Rwandan players at the 2018 African Taekwondo and Para Taekwondo Championships started the chase for medals on high on Wednesday to end the day in third place.

The competitions started yesterday and will run through April 1 at the Inbiaat Sports Hall in Moroccan city – Agadir.

On the opening day, there were competitions in Para Taekwondo and Poomsae (technical and tactical demonstrations) in the taekwondo championships. Rwanda claimed a total nine medals, one gold, one silver and seven bronze medals respectively.

Consolée Rukundo won the gold medal in Para Taekwondo, while Benoit Kayitare claimed silver in men's individual Poomsae before pairing with Clarisse Uwayo to scoop bronze in the team category.

Starting on Thursday (today) is the African Taekwondo Championship, classified as a G4 event, will see male and female fighters compete across eight categories.

At the 2016 edition in Cairo, Egypt, Rwanda won five bronze medals and will be seeking to make a step or two steps better this time round.

Before the team’s departure for Morocco on March 23, head coach Irene Bagire told Times Sport he is confident in his players and team's chances of retaining the title.

"After three months of intense training, we are ready to challenge for medals in Morocco. My players have rich experience in international competitions, which I hope will come in handy in our chase for title defense,” Bagire said.

Also due to take place in Agadir is the World Taekwondo President's Cup for Africa. The showpiece in the G2 event is scheduled to run from Friday to Sunday.

Today, three Rwandans namely; Aline Ndacyayisenga (Under- 57kgs), Vincent Munyakazi (Under -68kgs) and Denise Uwase (Under - 73kgs) will be in action with sights set on more medals for the country.