African Taekwondo Championship : Popoola hails Udom, others after medal haul

The President of the Taekwondo Federation of Nigeria, Tayo Popoola, has expressed delight over the good run of the country’s representatives at the ongoing Africa Championship which had over 35 countries in attendance.

Popoola said the taekwondo athletes have performed way beyond her expectations even as the event continues in Mali with top-rated athletes in attendance.

The NTF President was particularly glad with the feat achieved by Ability Udom who won gold medal in the K44 of the 57kg of the para event.

Popoola said: “The event is still ongoing, it’s a tough one. We just had two bronze and one gold from Ability Udom who participated in the event which was a tough one but she did very well.

“We have Joel who participated in the heavyweight category which was another tough one. We met a lot of Olympic and world champions which was a good fight. Then our medalist Chidinma, won a bronze. Salaudeen Abdulazeez also won bronze medal for Nigeria.

“This event is quite huge because we have more than 35 countries here and we know what that means to compete here. A lot of people came with a crowd of 30 athletes and it’s a tough one but Nigerian athletes are putting in their best.

“The celebration continues because we are looking forward to win medals in more events. We have participants from Nigeria that are ready to face the other parts of Africa in this tournament.

“I know some countries came with some of their world champions but our athletes are up to the task and ready to face them and I think we are going to do well. It’s tough but we are going to do well.”