By Oluwaseun Fadugba
Lagos – Nigeria’s current Taekwondo champion in the 57 kg female category, Chinazum Nwosu, lost out in the Tokyo 2020 Olympic qualifiers held in Rabat, Morocco.
Nigeria open gold medalist, Ifeoluwa Ajayi, also failed to pick the qualification ticket in the 68kg male category at the just concluded African qualification tournament.
The duo lost out in the crucial semifinals’ showdown against Niger Republic and Mali, respectively.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that 135 athletes from 35 African countries contested for 16 Olympics tickets, while eight of those Olympic tickets were already earned on the first day of the tournament.
The championship, which was an Olympic qualifiers, took place in Rabat, Morocco from Feb.22 and Feb. 23.
Host Morocco, Egypt, Cote D’Ivoire, Ethiopia, Nigeria, Tunisia, Gabon, Mali, Niger Republic and Kenya participated in the tournament.
Nwosu had defeated Algeria’s Soualili Nesrine Souad 20 – 3 in the quarterfinals before a shocking 10 – 33 loss to Niger Republic’s Tekiath Ben.
The African champion rebounded in the bronze medal match by defeating Ghana 18 – 0 to come away with a conciliatory bronze medal
Meanwhile, Elizabeth Anyancho picked the Olympic qualifier ticket in the 67kg female category.
Morocco and Egypt secured two Olympic tickets while the remaining four tickets were won by Nigeria, Ethopia, Cote D’ivoire and Gabon.
(NAN)
