Commonwealth Medalists Top List Of Taekwondo Team To 2015 All African Games

Commonwealth gold medalists, Abubakar Adamu Isah and Mohammed Jamilu topped the list of 16 athletes listed by the Nigeria Taekwondo Federation (NTF) for the 2015 African Games in Congo Brazzaville.

Isah, who will be competing in the men’s-54kg, is one of the experienced athletes in the team having featured at the 2014 World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) World Junior Championship in Chinese Taipei as well as the maiden at the 2014 Africa Youth Games in Gaborone, Botswana.

Medallists at 2014 Commonwealth Taekwondo Games [L-R: Adaeze Asigbe, Chika Chukwumerije, Shola Olowookere, Jamilu Mohammed, Esuku Josephine, Segun Olushola, Adamu Abubakar Isah, Uzoamaka Otuadinma, Ebere Blessing Nwakanma]

Like Isah, Jamilu (-58kg) is also an established taekwondist having won gold at the 2011 African Games in Mozambique as we as a quarterfinalist at the 2015 Alexandria Open in Egypt.

In the absence of his sibling, Chika, 2011 African Games gold medalist and captain of Team Nigeria, Uche Chukwumerije who will jostle for a medal in the men’s +87kg will also be part of the team.

Another experience taekwondist in the team is 2011 African Games bronze medalist, Sunday Onofe who will fight for a medal in the men’s -80kg.

Other members of the men’s team are Edwin Samson Nduka (-63kg), Kolade Paul (-68kg), Olushola Segun (-74kg), and Ayodele Temitope Ebenezer (-87kg).

Female Members of the Taekwondo Team to the 2014 Commonwealth Taekwondo Games

2014 African Championship bronze medalist, Joy Ekhator (-49kg) will lead the female team as the most experienced athlete.

Others are Jimoh Morufat (-46kg), Chinazum Nwosu (-52kg), Fatimoh Abdullahi (-57kg), Ndu Vivian (-63kg), Ifeoma Dennis (-67kg), Uzoamaka Otuadinma (-73kg) and Esther Uzoukwu (+73kg).

At the last African Games in Mozambique, Nigeria settled for fourth place with two gold, one silver and seven bronze medals while Egypt, Tunisia and Senegal finished as the top three teams in the taekwondo event.

Taekwondo Federation Mourns Patron Chukwumerije

Nigeria Taekwondo Federation (NTF) has described the death of its patron, Senator Uche Chukwumerije has a big loss to the sport in Nigeria.

In a statement signed by its president George Ashiru, the NTF highlighted the immense contribution of the lawmaker, towards popularising the sport.

he Chukwumerije brothers

“The Nigeria Taekwondo Federation regretfully announces the passing away of Senator Uche Chukwumerije, a founding father and patron of the Federation. Senator Chukwumerije was a 5th Degree black belt issued in Korea, and spawned a family of 8 black belts many of whom were national and international champions. These include the late Kwame Chukwumerije, who at 15, in 1987 was considered good enough to be invited to the national team for then world championships. His others sons Uche and Chika have both been African Games champions and Chika has gone on to do the country even more proud picking a Bronze at the 2008 Olympic Games.

He added: “Late Senator Chukwumerije, was a former President of the Nigeria Taekwondo Black Belt College, and was part of the team of leaders who agitated for the official recognition of Taekwondo by the National Sports Commission in 1987. He singlehandedly sponsored the 2007 Nigerian Team to the 2007 Olympic Qualification Tournament, amongst many others. He also singlehandedly hosted and rewarded the 2011 African Games team at a gala event in Abuja.

Senator Uche Chukwumerije

“He is famous for his political leadership as part of the National Assembly’s “Integrity Group”, while serving as a 4 term Senator. He was also a former Minister of Information in the 1990s. On behalf of the entire Taekwondo community, I extend our heartfelt condolences to the Chukwumerije family, and may the soul of late Senator Uche Chukwumerije rest in peace,” Ashiru said.

Chukwumerije spearheads Nigeria’s quest for honours at African Senior Taekwondo Championships

Beijing Olympics bronze medalist, Chika Chukwumerije will return to the ring, as he leads Nigeria’s quest for honours at the 2014 African Senior Taekwondo Championships, which kicks off on Wednesday May 7 in Tunis, Tunisia.

Chukwumerije, who last major outing was at the last maiden World Taekwondo Federation (WTF) grand prix held in Manchester will compete alongside his elder brother, Uche, Jamilu Mohammad, Sunday Onofe and Joy Ekhator.

The five-man team departed the country at the weekend with the aim of amassing points from the competition, which is a G-4 ranked tournament with the gold medalist getting 40 points.

The tournament will also plays a crucial role to determine the country’s qualification for the 2016 Rio Olympics in Brazil.

Uche will compete in the men’s -87kg and he recently won gold at the Belgian Open and he is the current All Africa Games Champion. His world rating is 35.

Muhammad is rated 46 in the world and also a gold medalist at the 2011 All Africa Games will compete against the continent’s best in the -58kg.

Abuja-based Onofe, a bronze medalist at the 2011 All Africa Games has missed out from the world rating following his inability to compete in an international competitions and he is expected to jostle for honour in the men’s -80kg.

The only female in the team, Joy Ekhator is a double All Africa Games medalist and she ranked 67 in the world. She will compete in the women’s -49kg.

Chika, who captained Nigeria to the 2012 London Olympics will compete alongside, Olympics champion, Gabon’s Anthony Obame as well as former world champion, Mali’s Modibo Keita in the men’s +87kg.

According to Secretary of the Nigeria Taekwondo Federation (NTF), Sunny Obot, the points accumulated during G-4 competition would qualify the athletes for other international competitions.

“The athletes we are featuring are champions in their weight categories. We hope that they will do very well.

This competition will help them very well; the competition is a G-4 competition. What I mean by G-4 is that you need to accumulate points, so when you get to semifinals in this competition, you tend to make 40 points to boost your ranking.

For example, Chika Chukwumerije is ranked 18th in the world. If Chika gets to semifinals or wins a gold medal in this competition, automatically that takes him to about 5th or 6th in the world in his weight category.

So there is every need that we participate in this competition. And the athletes know that if they want to participate at the Rio Olympics in 2016, they must take this competition seriously.”

He however, expressed confidence in the performance of the athletes that would represent Nigeria at the competition, saying that, “they are all champions in their own rights.’’

The trip was facilitated through private funding