Taekwondo Scoops Seven Medals

The Vodafone Taekwondo Fiji team returned home on Tuesday with seven medals from the 2019 Tasman-Nelson-Marlborough Taekwondo Cham­pionship in Christchurch, New Zealand on Wednesday (March 27).

The competition was held at the Saxton Stadium and was open to all World Taekwondo style colour belts, in­cluding black belts.

The five-member Fijian team collected three gold med­als, three silver medals and one bronze medal.

Debutant Nathaniel Panniker, a 10-year-old Dilkusha Primary School student, won a gold medal.

Raynav Chand, 16, a student of Bhawani Dayal College, scooped two gold medals in the under-16 and junior cat­egory (58-72 kg) respectively.

University of the South Pacific student Prabhat Prasad, 20, scooped two silver medals in the (poomse) and (55-58 kg) categories respectively.

Fiji National University student Sahil Prasad, 19, also won silver in the 58-62 kg category, while USP student Sha­nil Kumar settled for bronze in the 55-58 kg category.

Head coach Francis Nand said the athletes performed exceptionally and showed great potential at the competi­tion.

Nand said the team performed above expectations.

“We were aiming for five medals from five athletes but we managed to win seven medals for Fiji. That is a new benchmark,” he said.

He added that this would be a stepping stone to their preparation for the TUNZ championship in Wellington this September.

-Edited by Sheldon Chanel

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