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Sports Reporter
AT least 200 athletes from five countries are expected to take part in the Panthers Taekwondo Club organised Cadets Championships set for next week at Bulawayo’s Homestead Conference Centre.

Athletes from Lesotho, Mozambique, Malawi, Botswana and Zimbabwe are expected to compete in the inaugural event, which is targeting junior participants between the ages of three and 17 years.

Vusumuzi Ncube, founding president of Panthers Taekwondo Club, said Zimbabwe’s representatives will be drawn from the county’s 10 provinces, including seven Bulawayo clubs, Body Works, Mustard Seed, Cabatsha, Breakthrough, Miles of Smiles, Lukanyiso and REPS.

“We’ve invited the Minister of Sports, Arts and Recreation Kazembe Kazembe and it is our hope that he’ll grace our function. Being the first tournament targeting only young athletes, we expect about 200 participants. The whole idea of this tournament is to give the future stars exposure to serious competition, hence our reason to invite neighbouring countries, which have confirmed that they will be sending their teams,” said Ncube.

Organisers of the tournament are hoping to use the competition to identify and prepare athletes for the National Youth Games to be held in August. They are also hoping to use this tournament to market taekwondo.

“We are trying to market taekwondo so that people have an appreciation of the sport. Most people confuse taekwondo with karate. Besides the different uniforms and style, taekwondo is a full contact form of martial art, while karate is semi-contact. We are appealing to the people of Bulawayo to come and support the young ones and enjoy the sport,” Ncube said.