Rwanda Taekwondo Federation has praised three players for “a job well-done” following their shining performance where they claimed three medals – including one gold – at the 2018 Kenya Taekwondo Open Championship. Despite fielding a small contingent of three players, Rwanda finished second overall, only behind the hosts Kenya. The three fighters; Jean Paul Sekanyambo, national team captain Benon Kayitare and Mussa Twizerimana all managed a medal each – with the former scooping gold in the -58kg category. Kayitare, 22, finished second in the -54kg category to win silver while compatriot Twizerimana also took silver in the -74kg category. Speaking to Times Sport on Sunday, the local taekwondo governing body’s president, Placide Bagabo, was all praise for the trio. “The three players represented the country incredibly well, they deserve to be applauded. As the federation, we always try to organize competitions locally and send our athletes to regional and international competitions to get such experience,” said Bagabo. He further noted that, “The trio will next year represent the country in qualifiers of the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.” In a separate interview, team captain Kayitare said that Rwanda can do much better if there were more taekwondo competitions for players to get exposure and experience. “We generally did very well as a country, but, we could have done better had we had better preparations. The fact that we were a very small number also affected our overall performance,” said Kayitare. According to taekwondo federation’s officials, the attention is shifted to the upcoming national championships. editorial@newtimes.co.rw
