Zambia: The country Zambia’s Judo season started on a high note in readiness for the All Africa games in March 2024. According to Zambia Judo Association (ZJA), it is duty bound to select a dedicated team of judoka’s to represent the country at the continental games.
Zambia Judo Association General Secretary Mabvuto Nguni says this year’s Judo season has started on a high note for his technical team to identify a capable team of local judokas ahead of the tournament scheduled for March in Accra, Ghana.
Nguni says the technical team went to work at the Olympic Youth Development Center (OYDC), which hosted the judo tournament attended by six local teams, among them Nkwazi and Red Arrows Judo Clubs.
In an interview with ZANIS Sports at the OYDC, the ZJA General Secretary stated that his Association was dedicated to coming up with a formidable team that would bring medals for Zambia.
Nguni said Zambia was looking forward to the tournament because it wanted to be better or at par with the continental giants, who, he said, are the best on the continent.
Zambia has, in the recent past, competed with Angola for medals regionally and internationally, but as the ZJA General Secretary assures the nation this year, it will be a different tournament.
The technical team will make a final selection on 17th February 2024 at the same venue.
The Red Arrows judo club described today’s opener as tough. The club’s Chairman, Major Gary Malamba, said in an interview that although his team came out third best, he was proud of it.
He expressed optimism that his team will perform better this season than it did last season when it ended the season as third best.
Recently, the Zambia Judo Association launched its internship programme for 2024, in which it called people for various job descriptions and asked them to join.