Malawi judo athletes Harriet Boniface and Chifundo Kathewera have left for Dakar, Senegal for the Judo Open Championships which will be used as Tokyo Olympics qualifiers.
The two athletes departed yesterday for Dakar for the event which will take place from tomorrow to Sunday.
Boniface will compete in 48 kilogrammes (kg) category while
Kathewera will participate 60kg event
Judo Association of Malawi general secretary Osborne Banda said International Olympic Committee (IOC) funded the trip.
He said the event is a platform for Boniface and Kathewera to get enough points to qualify for Olympic.
“All the two athletes are on IOC scholarship and everything concerning their participation has been financed by IOC. This is an opportunity for the athletes to accumulate more points so that they can qualify for Tokyo Olympic Games.We need at least a medal from this competition,” he said.
The two judokas have been accompanied by coach Christopher Chilasa.
In an interview yesterday, Malawi Olympic Committee (MOC) spokesperson Kythrina Phiri said they have high hopes in the two athletes.
“We believe in them and our expectation is that the two athletes will stay focused and do well and accumulate points that will help them to qualify for 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games,” she said.
Malawi has never qualified for the Olympics on merit but on Solidarity and the two can make history of they earn enough points.
