NAN-S-3
Ratings
By Olanrewaju Akojede
Lagos, Nov. 28, 2017 (NAN) The Chairman of Lagos State Taekwondo Association (LSTA), Jimi Ogunnowo, on Tuesday said plans were underway to get the World Taekwondo Sport (WTS) ratings for the Lagos International Taekwondo Classics.
Ogunnowo told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos that the state’s hosting of the annual championships had impacted well on the promotion of the sports at the grassroots.
He said this was because the just-concluded 2017 edition of the classics was of international standard.
“It’s been a wonderful event which was borne out of the passion of the stakeholders for the development of the sport.
“The association has presented to the world an exquisite tournament, with the provision of world-class equipment.
“Over the years, we have been getting better in our quest to have a world class competition and upgrading ourselves in terms of the number of participants’ and of the quality of the championships.
“We have grown over the years. Now we have electronic scoring system introduced for the championship.
“The first edition of the classics had about 100 participants with 20 per cent being foreigners. But now, we have over 300 with 30 per cent foreigners.
“This shows that more countries are involved in the competition.
“It shows that the championships is enjoying good ratings.
“The fact for now is that we have had a championships with good ratings, which means that WTS has rated this championships as a scoring championships for the athletes,’’ Ogunnowo said.
He added that the national taekwondo federation board has presented the proposal for the WTS ratings to the world body with the purpose of getting the championships graded.
“We have had four editions and we have also presented our proposals to the WTS and very soon it will be graded as an international tournament on the calendar.
“Taekwondo is a dynamic sport and we have already updated and upgraded our facilities and equipment in line with the WTS standard.
“We are also keeping ourselves abreast of the happenings globally by attending international courses and we also procured the latest equipment so as to keep the pace with others.
“With the digital scoring systems and other facilities, our athletes can contest favourably with their peers globally,’’ Ogunnowo said.
The state chairman said part of LSTA’s objectives was to discover talents at the grassroots level, with many of those budding talents tutored for future challenges.
“Part of the objectives of LSTA is to discover talents at the grassroots. Presently, Lagos has the largest number of taekwondo clubs in Nigeria. We have clubs in many schools and some private setting.
“We are growing and we have tournaments for the under-15. From there, we select the champions that represent the state at the school sports and youth games events.
“We have competitions in various grades, from the youths to the intermediate and the senior category. We want to continue with this tradition and encourage the sport to grow.
“By this time next year, we should be at the highest level of performance.
“There is still room for improvement. So, for us, we will not relent in our efforts to popularise the sport,’’ he said.
NAN reports that the championships was held at the Molade Okoya-Thomas Indoor Sports Hall of Teslim Balogun Stadium in Lagos from Nov. 22 to Nov. 25.
No fewer than 300 athletes from Nigeria, Ghana, Mali and Niger Republic participated in the three-day championships.(NAN)
KOJE/DEB/OLAL
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(Edited by Debo Oshundun and Olawale Alabi)