admin
Sports Reporter
JUDO coach Lazarus Arufandika says there is room for improvement for their upcoming athletes following their recent participation at the South Africa Championships in Bloemfontein.
A 26-member team, under the Judo Association of Zimbabwe, competed at the just-ended South Africa Champion-ships. The team was mainly made up of juniors.
The tournament took off with the Schools’ Novice and Advanced competition focusing mainly on young judokas before the Open Championships that concluded last Friday.
The team won seven medals — four gold, two silver, and one bronze.
Arufandika said most of the judokas were competing in the event for the first time and going forward they have to work on their confidence among other aspects.
“So most of them missed medals in the last fight, for the bronze medals. But also a good thing is that most of these athletes were pre-cadets and cadets, it was their first international competition and they performed very well.
“Mostly it’s just working on confidence, ticking the boxes that we need to improve on, which is mostly strength and conditioning, more training, and then also accessibility to training areas too.”
The four gold medals came from Mikaela du Preez, Mackenzie Mbanga, Tinenyasha Taruvinga, and Smart Deke Junior in the juniors.
Sydney Mutero, who was one of the few seniors who took part in the championships, claimed silver in the Masters category.
Layla Smith also weighed in with another silver in the girl’s Under-28kg weight division while Fedora Dube settled for bronze under the cadets category.
The South Africa Championships remain one of the major competitions local judokas look forward to as JAZ seeks to expose their athletes to more competitive tournaments in the region.
With the African Union Sports Council Region Five Youth Games rescheduled for next year, the national association is looking at using various events to prepare their team.
“For the juniors it’s preparation for next year, for the Region Five Youth Games. That is for the pre-cadets and cadets.
“From what I saw, it’s just a matter of ticking the boxes for strength and conditioning, and mental training too for preparations, for competitions, and then we have to have a lot of local competitions to prepare them for those Games,” said Arufandika.
Team manager Desire Nyikadzino hopes to continue nurturing their athletes through participation in such competitions.
“We are thrilled with the team’s performance, and we are grateful for the support of our sponsors, Access Forex, Gant-horpe Enterprises, Spartan Drilling as well as the support of the Minister of Sport Arts, and Recreation Honourable. Kirsty Coventry and other well-wishers who wish to remain anonymous.
“We look forward to building on this success and continuing to develop our judokas for future competitions as we prepare for the upcoming Region 5 Games in Namibia, in 2025, and Youth Olympic Games in 2026,” said Nyikadzino.
The Youth Olympic Games will be held in Senegal, in 2026.
Online Reporter