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Ellina Mhlanga, Harare Bureau
ZIMBABWE Taekwondo Association technical director Peter Kembo says their continued participation in regional events will go a long way in developing local athletes after they picked four medals at the Beira Open Championships in Mozambique over the weekend.

The country sent nine athletes -Tatenda Bhero, Brian Chaibva, Lazarus Maringeose, Beton Doba, Brenda Chaora, Admire Tshitshiliza, Vusumuzi Ncube, Albert Maringeose and Lewis Mataya to the championships.

Tshitshiliza and Mataya came out tops in the fin weight and featherweight respectively to claim gold.

Ncube settled for bronze in the middleweight division while Albert Maringeose walked away with bronze in the juniors section.

Tshitshiliza, who was at the World Championships in South Korea recently, also got the athlete of the tournament award in an event that featured Zimbabwe and Mozambique.

“What we are seeking most of the time is exposure for our athletes. We want them to be involved in more competitions besides the national tournaments that we have here.

“Already we have had four national championships but if they meet athletes from other countries it gives them a different level of competition unlike if we keep them here, they will be fighting the same people each time.

“But this takes them to a higher level, even their rankings improve and it builds their confidence because they will be meeting different people,” said Kembo.

Kembo said the tournament was tightly-contested and to have picked four medals is a good sign for the sport.

“It was a tight competition to be honest. So for us to have one of our athletes getting the athlete of the tournament award is an achievement for us.

“Admire is just coming from the World Championships, so in this tournament he got recognised and we are happy with his standards and his ranking keeps on improving.

“The other guys, the challenge was that this was their first time competing in such a tournament, like Lazarus Maringeose, it was his first time to compete outside the country.

“So his performance was not bad, he didn’t lose with many points and you could tell it was a matter of experience. But he is promising.

“We also have Brenda, she is good but she was paired with someone who was just coming from the World Championships and she lost to someone experienced,” added Kembo.

The team returned home yesterday.