Sports
400,000 Nigerians Participate In Taekwondo – Korea Envoy
The population of those now involved in taekwondo in Nigeria is now about 400,000, Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to Nigeria, Choi Jong-Hyun, said on Saturday in Abuja.
He said this in his address at the opening ceremony of the third edition of the Korean Ambassador’s Cup West Africa International Taekwondo Championship.
The Tidesports reports that the five-day championship which began on Thursday was officially declared open at the Velodrome of the Abuja National Stadium on Saturday.
Choi said the sport has grown tremendously in the country as it has acquired more universality with about 70 million practitioners in 191 countries across the world.
“It is said that sports has a universal language, and taekwondo has acquired more universality in that language.
“This has led to this traditional Korean sport being one of the official medal events at the Summer Olympic Games since the Sydney Games of 2000,’’ he said.
The ambassador said among Nigeria’s taekwondo 400,000 population are young members of the Taekwondo Club of the Korean Cultural Centre who displayed remarkable skills during the championship’s last edition in 2010.
He said the sport has enjoyed similar popularity in the other parts of the world, including the five other west African countries represented at the championship by their taekwondoists.
Choi pointed out that taekwondo was not just about sport but also about discipline, humility and perseverance, saying this was why the South Korean government has been making tremendous efforts to ensure its popularity.
“My government has made tremendous efforts over the past five decades to share this sport with all those living on this planet so that they can also benefit from such value by practising one of the oldest Asian martial arts,’’ he said.
The ambassador then thanked Sen. Uche Chukwumerije, the National Sports Commission (NSC) and the President of the Nigerian Taekwondo Federation (TFN), Jonathan Nnaji for their support for the sport.
He also expressed the full commitment of the government and people of Republic of Korea to further promoting the sport in Nigeria and West Africa as a whole.
In his address at the occasion, a member of the International Olympic Committee (IOC), Habu Gumel, described the championship as a catalyst to the sport’s development in Nigeria and Africa as a whole.
A well-known football pundit in the State, Chief Christopher Okonkwo has lauded the efforts and vision of the Super Eagles Coach Eric Chelle for going from one venue of the Nigeria Domestic Nigeria Professional Football League match to the other in monitoring Nigerian players, with a view to invite some exceptional good one discovered into the main stream of the Super Eagles team.
Okonkwo, who made the commendation in an interview at the Port Harcourt Club recently, described the positive move by Coach Chelle as a good step in the right direction, noting that the practice was how its been done in the past among any contracted coach assigned to tinker the Super Eagles team.
“Truly, it has been an old tradition in the country seeing any newly engaged Coach to lead the National team, visiting some our Nigeria League venues during the league matches to spot light some good talents that could be used to beef up some grey areas in the department of Eagles team”
He, however, frowned at the current situation where our coaches had continously been over depending on the use of foreign based players during invitation of players to the National camp, thereby, relegating the domestic home based league players to the background as if they have nothing much to offer to the team.
“I can vividly recall that the likes of great players in the mode of Finidi George, Taribo West, Kanu Nwankwo, Austin Okocha, Richard Owobokiri, Emmanuel Osuigwe among others started from Nigeria football league before they graduated to play in Europe through which they later invited to Super Eagles camp to represent Nigeria”
“Besides, I’m also of the view that going to secondary school football competitive games could equally serves as a a good platform to discover budding talents that could be nurtured to become great stars in near future”, Okonkwo frankly added.
Okonkwo, therefore, prayed that any football coach to be engaged by the Nigeria Football Federation (NFF) to tinker the Super Eagles should be told not to confine himself in staying in big hotel alone but to be visiting some of our local league match venues, with a view to discover some good players that can be drafted into the Super Eagles team.
“Indeed, I stand to be challenged that there some young good players in the Nigeria Professional League. If spotted and exposed, could give the some of the invited foreign based players a stiff competitive fight in securing a postion in the team”, Okonkwo emphatically stated.
Ezechukwu, one of the youngest members of the Nigerian contingent at the championship in Ghana, said her ambition was to win the 100m title in style and cap it with a new personal record.
The fresh secondary school graduate explained that she is fully focused on contributing to Team Nigeria’s medal hopes and is determined to deliver strong performances across her events.
“My main objective in Ghana is to clinch the 100m title and the 4×100m,” Ezechukwu told Tidesports source.
“Nigeria can be assured of my very best and my commitment to the Team. I would love to set a new personal best in Ghana, but anything that comes, I will take it. The spirit in the team is high, and I think we are ready to go,” she said.
Ezechukwu, who was part of Nigeria’s women’s 4x100m relay squad at the World Relays in Botswana, said the experience gained from that competition has strengthened her mindset heading into the continental championships.
She admitted that she learned valuable lessons from her previous outing, including a difficult moment during the relay where an early error affected the team’s rhythm, but said she has used the experience to improve her discipline and composure.
“The secret is just being disciplined, training hard and trusting my coach and believing in God, and the result will show,” she added.
The teenager is part of a 41-member Nigerian team comprising 24 female and 17 male athletes competing at the championships, which begin today at the University of Ghana, Legon.
Nigeria are expected to compete across multiple track and field events as they aim for a strong finish against the continent’s elite athletes.
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