Rwanda Taekwondo Federation has started preparations ahead of the Ambassador’s Cup tournament, which is slated for September 12-14 at Amahoro Indoor Stadium.

The federation’s Secretary General, who also doubles as the national team captain, Placide Bagabo believes that the three-day tournament will be better organised. The tournament will be sponsored by the Korean Embassy in Kigali.

"We have started the preparations ahead of the event because we need to make sure everything is in place to make this tournament a real success. We also need to make sure that the (Rwandan) teams are good in shape to compete against the visiting teams,” he told this paper on yesterday.

After the Ambassador’s Cup this month, the federation will organise a national championship in October and the country is also bidding to host the African Championships in November.

Ten countries including host Rwanda, DRC, Uganda, Burundi, Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, Egypt, Gabon and Congo Brazzaville will take apart in the event. 

Making the debut appearance at the World Taekwondo Championships event in June, Rwanda was ranked sixth in Africa and among the top 40 in the world. 

Meanwhile, the Rwanda national taekwondo technical director Martin Koonce has been appointed on the Africa Taekwondo Union (AFTU) as the in-charge of the Zone V region.