Taekwondo athlete glitters gold for Malawi
A taekwondo female athlete Veronica Manda was the toast of the day for Malawi after winning the first gold medal for the country at the African Union Sports Council Region 5 Under-17 Games, in Maseru, Lesotho.
She won gold after overcoming athletes from Swaziland, Botswana and hosts Lesotho, respectively.
According to a statement from Malawi Nation Council of Sports, released on Wednesday, Manda did not give her opponent from Swaziland any chance as she managed to win by 37 to 11 points.
Her performance led to Word Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) officials to delay her next fight as they needed her to take a test to see if she had taken any performance-enhancing drugs.
But the test came out negative giving Manda to go on rampage winning in her second fight against a Botswana opponent.
In her third and last match, her opponent from the hosts nation she proved to too good, winning by a technical knock out to claim first gold for team Malawi.
Malawi hauled bronzes in boxing through Joseph Sean in the light-flyweight category, while Joseph Kanyinji fought in the 48-51 kg and Ledson Patson did it in flyweight has also bagged bronze, Luwis Mbewe light-welterweight and Ivy Mkandawire in the light-flyweight.
Malawi Under-17 national football team also won bronze for finishing third in boy’s football at the tournament after defeating E-swatini 4 -0 on Tuesday.
Malawi Under-20 netball national team won silver after losing to South Africa 33-26 on Wednesday in the final.
Regional Five Games feature predominantly Under-17 athletes, but some sporting codes such netball are exempted to use their Under-20 teams.
