A total of 12 countries have so far confirmed their participation in the forthcoming second edition of Africa Para-Taekwondo Open to be staged in Kigali from March 31 to April 2. According to Rwanda Taekwondo Federation secretary-general Placide Bagabo, the deadline for registration has been moved forward, from March 22 to March 30, to facilitate more countries to participate. “We expect more countries to register, we have shifted the registration deadline to allow for more countries to register because it’s a complex online system,” said Bagabo in an interview with Times Sport on Monday Rwanda won the rights to host the continental championship during the WTF General Assembly after the World Junior Taekwondo Championship in November last year in Canada and this will be the first time the country will be competing in the Para-Taekwondo competition. Countries that have so far registered include United States of America, Spain, France, Germany, Comoros, Austria, Uzbekistan, Niger, Mozambique, Serbia, Nigeria, Lesotho and hosts Rwanda. In January 2016, the International Paralympics Committee (IPC) announced that taekwondo will make its historic debut in the Tokyo 2020 Paralympics Games and it’s in that context that Rwanda will be looking to use next month’s event as part of preparations for the national team that will compete in the Olympic qualifiers. The national team is currently in a non-residential training camp at Amahoro indoor stadium preparing for the three-day event. editorial@newtimes.co.rw
