‘Kickboxing Tourney Prepares Athletes For Festival’

A Kickboxing Federation of Nigeria (KFN) official, Emmanuel Oghenejobo, has said on Wednesday in Lagos that the ongoing Agoma Open Championships would

help to prepare athletes for the 17th National Sports Festival.

The festival would hold at the new Adokiye Amiesimaka Sports Complex, Port Harcourt from June 27 to July 11.

Oghenejobo, the Technical Director of KFN and sponsor of the tourney,told newsmen that the tournament, now in its second edition, would improve the performances of kick-boxers.

“These championships will help us to know the quality of athletes going for the sports festival and correct their mistakes,’’ he said.

Oghenejobo, who won silver in the heavyweight category of the non-scoring taekwondo event of the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, urged the National Sports Commission (NSC) to support the development of the sport.

“ We have attained world standards in kickboxing and we intend to make the sport more popular in Nigeria and that is why we are asking the government to support us,’’ he said.

Oghenejobo, who also won the 1991 All Africa Games gold medal, said the championships would boost the confidence of the athletes ahead of the All Africa Games in Maputo in September.

He said that he was sponsoring the competition as a way of giving something back to the society.

A national referee, Ugo Anafulu, commended the organisation of the championships, adding that it would help to improve the standard of the game.

Anafulu also commended the introduction of the rule which now allowed Muslim female fighters to wear fitted cloth underneath the helmet.

Edo head coach John Osamwonyi said the competition was an opportunity for the athletes to sharpen their skills ahead of the sports festival.