Taekwondo Ready For New Zealand Competition
"The tournament will be held at the Saxton Stadium, Stoke, Nelson and is open to all WT style colour belts (8th group and above) and Black Belts."
Thursday 21 March 2019 | 11:00
Youngest athlete, Nathaniel Panniker, 9, (front) with team-mates as they prepare for the upcoming championship in New Zealand. Photo: Francis Nand
The Francis Nand- coached Vodafone national Taekwondo team will make their debut at the 2019 Tasman-Nelson-Marlborough Taekwondo Championship in Christchurch, New Zealand on Saturday.
The tournament will be held at the Saxton Stadium, Stoke, Nelson and is open to all WT style colour belts (8th group and above) and Black Belts.
Team coach Francis Ram confirmed that a team of eight members including debutant, Nathaniel Panniker, a student of Dilkusha Primary School will be taking part.
Other athletes include, 16-year old Raynav Chand, a student of Bhawani Dayal College, Shanil Kumar, 20, a University of the South Pacific student, Prabhat Prasad, 20, and 19-year old Fiji National University student Sahil Prasad.
“This is the first time that the Asia Pacific Taekwondo Federation in Fiji is taking part in the event at Nelson.
“There are five athletes and it is a sure shot of five medals in the bag for Fiji at the event,” he said.
Ram added that this would be a stepping stone to their preparation for the September 2019 TUNZ in Wellington.
“We are targeting to win more medals compared to last year at the TUNZ Championship. In 2017 we took 10 athletes and won nine medals in Wellington.
“In 2018 we took 16 athletes and came back with 20 medals and it’s a huge achievement by our athletes for the federation and as Fiji as whole. This year our youngest athlete is nine years old.”
The team return on March 27.”
Team Fiji: Raynav Chand, Shanil Kumar, Prabhart Prasad, Sahil Prasad, Nathaniel Panniker, Coach - Francis Nand, Manager - Nitika Nath and Team coordinator - Marica Panniker.
Edited by Leone Cabenatabua
Feedback: waisean@fijisun.com.fj
