Taekwondo team upbeat as D-Day for Olympic ticket chase nears

The stage is all but set for Kenya’s quintet of Taekwondo players as they launch their hunt for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics tickets in Rabat, Morocco this weekend.

The Kenyan contingent arrived in the Moroccan capital on Tuesday in readiness for the African challenge where two male, two female and a Paralympian will be in search for the elusive ticket to the summer Games.

A total of 36 countries are taking part in the two-day qualifiers and  Kenya’s coach cum team manager John Kamotho is optimistic of Kenya’s chances of making the cut.

“We have had a long but a good journey, our vision still remains the same –  to pick one or two tickets for Tokyo, our girls will be the first on the field on Saturday in the Under- 67kg  category as well as Above-67kg,” Kamotho  bullishly told Citizen Digital from the team’s base in Morocco.

The women’s teams will be led by Faith Ogalo who bagged bronze at the Fujira Taekwondo Championships held in Dubai last month, and will be hoping to replicate the same feat at the Africa qualifiers in Morocco. Ogalo, a Form Three student at the Kibabii University will be joined by Everlyne Aluoch.

In the Men’s category, Edwin Lemiso and Newton Maliro –  all from the Kenya Defense Forces – will be Kenya’s representatives.

“On the men’s category we will be taking part in the Under -63kg and Above-80kg, we have faith in this strong team. We also believe the paralympian has what it takes to pick a ticket for the Tokyo Games,” Kamotho enthused.

Kenya Taekwondo squad:

Men; Newton Maliro, Edwin Lemiso, Peter Kabane (Paralympics)

Women: Faith Ogalo and Everlyn Aluoch

Coaches: Moses Muturi and Gerald Mara