Paralympics earmarks 17 athletes for Region V Games
Malawi Paralympics Committee (MPC) has earmarked 17 athletes for the African Union Sports Council Region Five Games in Gaborone, Botswana in December.
This would be the biggest contingent that the local disability sports’ governing body would be sending to an international event and MPC president James Chiutsi said this is a deliberate plan that would facilitate the selection process of 10 visually-impaired athletes that will carry Malawi’s flag at the 2020 Paralympics Games in Tokyo, Japan.
“We are not taking chances; we would like to have a strong squad with international experience before we start our intensive preparations for the 2020 games and the Region Five Games are the best international platform for gauging our strength,” he said.
Eight males, namely, Patrick Banda, Diston Mumba, Misheck Kamano, Alinafe Puwa, Karen Kamowa, Ndaziona Barnet, Mphatso Kadzuwa and Yamikani Lazalo are on the list alongside nine females Prisca Kachule, Eliza Kamanga, Jennifer Winston, Bertha Nyson, Eunice Phiso, Gladys Chiwinja, Sakina Yusufu, Asiyeni Chisale and Luwiza Kamanga.
In Botswana, these athletes are expected to compete in T11, T12 and T13 visual-impairment categories.
Joseph Galanje, chairperson for MPC’s affiliate Para-Athletics Committee, said they expect to have an initial camp training for the Botswana contest in the next two months and they are appealing to the corporate world to assist them with the required K1.9 million funding.
Meanwhile, the MPC conducted an interactive meeting with the media at Malawi National Council of Sports (MNCS) in Blantyre on Tuesday to share ideas on how they can work together to uplift standards of disability sports. n
