MUNG’ANDU CLIMBS JUDO RANKS

CHISHIMBA BWALYA writes @SunZambian FOLLOWING Steven Mung’andu’s performance at the recent African Judo Championship held in Antananarivo, Madagascar, his world ranking has improved by 11 places. He is now ranked 53rd from 64th with 960 points in the 66kg category after reaping a Bronze in his weight category. Top Judokas last week met in a […]

MUNG’ANDU CLIMBS JUDO RANKS
CHISHIMBA BWALYA writes @SunZambian FOLLOWING Steven Mung’andu’s performance at the recent African Judo Championship held in Antananarivo, Madagascar, his world ranking has improved by 11 places. He is now ranked 53rd from 64th with 960 points in the 66kg category after reaping a Bronze in his weight category. Top Judokas last week met in a tournament that is also billed as an Olympics qualifier for Tokyo games in 2021. After missing out on qualification at the Dakar Open championship in Senegal last month, the Zambian judoka had his attention set on the tournament for him to compete in Tokyo next year. Seen as a date with destiny for the France based judoka, who missed out last time after losing in the final to Senegal’s Gaye Serigne. His coach Moola Lipimile has often expressed confidence in the 66kg man adding that he can be the next athlete to book a ticket for multi-sport competition in Japan next year so long as he maintains a consistent performance. “The chances are there, he has to qualify on the continent and he is ranked number two here, if he maintains his points now then it means he has already qualified.” “We don’t want to relent to say just because he is almost qualifying we sit back, we are trying to look at the next competitions on how he can improve.” Lipimile who also spoke earlier before the draws were done saying it would be a tricky battle for Mung’andu who is ranked 4th in his category out of 19 judokas. “It is 50-50 competition and anything can happen and we hope for the better. So far morale in the camp is high and we are hoping that at the end of the day we know who gets gold or silver but we are ready.” With Mung’andu edging closer and his development in the last few years that earned him his current Olympic Scholarship also moving higher, Lipimile is confident that Zambia Judo has found a winning formula that will see them achieve major results in future competitions. He will have his final opportunity to qualify for the Olympics in April, 2021. This year’s championship saw major changes necessitated by the spread of Coronavirus with the cadet and kata competitions withdrawn.