By Gracious Akujobi Organizers of the Chika Chukwumerije Sports Foundation (CCSF) say the International Taekwondo Open has seen over 340 athletes confirmed participation in the two day event.
According to the organizers, the number has exceeded last year’s entry which had 240 athletes even as more athletes are still registering for the open holding in Abuja on October 19-20.
Speaking to newsmen, Chukwumerije shed more light on the competition, saying “The aim of the CCSF open is to inspire young athletes to win medals at Rio 2016 Olympics and subsequent Olympics.
“We do not have enough funds to send every Taekwondo practitioner abroad so we decided to float a tournament right here in Nigeria that matches international standard, which would attract top foreign athletes to the open.”
Speaking further, the Olympic silver medalist says the major aim of the championship is to discover future Olympians.
His words, “One of the main aims of the championship is to be recognized by the world Taekwondo Federation by 2015, secondly, we want to see if we can discover athletes here and start a process of developing them for international tournaments, thirdly we are looking at exploring the educational potentials for the bright ones that can combine sports and academics.
“We could find some kind of package where they could continue their education without much ado. And finally, we want to showcase the entertainment potential of sports”.
Seven African countries have registered for the open. They are: Mali, Gabon, Congo Brazzaville, Ghana,Togo, Niger Republic and Ivory Coast.
Also, 24 states including Nigeria Police, Custom, Immigration have also registered.
