Taekwondo: national championship gamble pays off
Martial arts - Taekwondo: national championship gamble pays off, reports Sport News Africa
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Saturday 25 March 2023 was the date chosen by the Ivorian taekwondo federation (FITKD) to stage the 2022 national championship, which was halted last year for legal reasons, alongside the launch of the 2023 season. The day of fights began with the 2022 national championship, which brought together young taekwondo athletes from the Abidjan, Bouaké and Daloa zones.
These three zones, which drive taekwondo in Côte d'Ivoire, produced high-intensity bouts through their athletes for the crowd that turned out at the Alassane Ouattara Ivorian-Korean sports, cultural and ICT centre in the Cocody district.
Koumassi on top
Ten fights were on the card for the day. After a series of hard-fought bouts, the Koumassi league took the prize for best district representation, while Ineka claimed best club of the 2022 championship. Two athletes from that club, Ibrahim Touré and Dolores Koffi, won the awards for best athlete of the competition among the men and the women respectively.
For Patrick Remarck, vice-president of the national taekwondo governing body, in charge of Olympic projects, completing the 2022 championship was of great importance to the federation. The launch of the 2023 championship will help raise the level of young Ivorian taekwondo athletes with future international competitions in mind.
For the president of the Ivorian taekwondo federation, Jean Marc Yacé, the federation's leaders are completely satisfied. He urged young practitioners to keep flying the flag for taekwondo in Ivorian sport.
Sanh Séverin