Power house in taekwondo in Africa, Mali, Togo and Niger Republic are among the first teams to arrive as the city of power, Abuja comes alive for the 3rd Chika Chukwumerije Sports Foundation (CCSF) International Opens which begins on Saturday October 24.
The Malian team was the first foreign continent to arrive for the two-day tournament while Togo and Niger Republic have also continued their training in Abuja in readiness for the competition while others are expected to arrive on Friday October 23.
Also, the invited World Taekwondo Federation (WTF)-certified referees from Kenya, Egypt, Ghana, Niger Republic, Mali and Senegal are expected to arrive on Friday for the draw.
Registration of athletes commenced on Thursday October 22 at the Korean Cultural Centra in Abuja.
Over 300 athletes across Africa and Nigeria are taking part in the competition with Olympics equipment expected to be deployed for the tournament.
“At this year’s CCSF Open, there are lots of innovation and first is the technology being used – the Daedo Electronic Head Gear. The 1st edition of this tournament was the first tournament ever in Nigeria to use the Daedo Electronic Body gear, which inspired all other tournaments to follow suit in Nigeria. Now this will be the first event in Africa to use the Electronic Head Gear.
This gear was not even used in the just concluded All Africa Games. Thus, the fact that we are using the latest technology is a huge pull for Africa countries, especially given the fact that the Olympic qualification tournament to be held in February 2016 in Morocco will be using this same equipment,” said the founder of CCSF, Chika Chukwumerije.
To make the tournament a mixture of sports and entertainment, the Beijing 2008 Olympics medalist said: “The entire ambience of the competition venue will be such that persons who have never seen or done taekwondo before will have a lot to talk about long after the event is finished. The ambience of diversity of activities planned around the hall will be major talking point for spectators and participants alike.”
According to the triple Olympian, “This event has been designed to be a truly unique sports entertainment event, as against being just a taekwondo event. Other events planned to run concurrently is a mini table tennis event, and a Play Station 4 FIFA Football event to make it a truly family event. It would be capped off with a musical concert on the third day that would take place alongside an award ceremony for the medalists.”
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