IKPO IGBINOBA
In spite of roguish decisions by some corner judges and referees, Bodyweapon Taekwondo Club showed class at the annual Honeyland U-16 Kiddies Championship on Saturday in Ipaja, Lagos.
The club which featured twenty-two athletes in the championship swept the stakes with every of its fighter winning a medal.
With twelve gold, five silver and five bronze medals, Bodyweapon were the undisputed champions at the one-day event.
Even the Bodyweapon athletes who had their baptism of fire on Saturday didn’t disappoint their coaches as they also put up podium performances in their first time out.
Of the all-conquering cast, two kids stood out, Favour Moses, the poster boy of the club and Jaden Ofili.
Favour, a veteran of many sparring battles and Championships, apart from winning the first gold for the club caused a stir.
His opponent for the gold fight refused to come out when he was called.
He pleaded with the officials to give him another opponent because Favour would be too hot for him to handle.
In fact, Favour, tiny in stature but towering in performance was merciless against his first opponent.
The hapless boy was not granted his request so he had to face Favour.
With his kicks, delivered with clinical precision, Favour overran his frightening foe in the gold fight to open the floodgates for Bodyweapon’s medal rush.
For Jaden, her opponents were deceived by her cool and calm exterior which was a decoy.
The opponents didn’t know that beneath that calmness was the fire of a tested fighter.
They paid dearly for their wrong judgment as none of the two opponents could last the distance with her.
It was not all rosy news for Bodyweapon Club who were unstoppable on the mats but couldn’t play the dirty politics of the championship.
One of the finest kickers in the club, Raynald Braih had his victory brazenly stolen after being declared winner in the gold fight by the referee.
A protest by Coach Emmanuel Banjo backed by video evidence was dismissed by the organisers.
A spokesman for the Bodyweapon Taekwondo Club and father of the robbed Raynald, Mr. Jerome Braih in his response said:
“What has just happened is totally unacceptable, especially for a competition of this nature that is supposed to be developmental and for kids.
“Why Raynald’s victory was overturned after he had been declared the winner by the referee will remain a mystery to all those who saw the fight”.
The soft-spoken Braih admonished the organisers to protect the integrity of the championship by shutting out rogue officials in subsequent editions.
“If the organisers must achieve the lofty goals of this laudable programme, they must keep away rogue officials who are desperate to make quick money”
“They need to protect the integrity of the championship and the institutions behind it”.
All the Bodyweapon Champions Gold medalists
2. Jaden Ofili
7. David Ohwi
10. Seyitan Olu-Moiett
11. Mubarak Sodiq
12. Toluwani Ajayi
Silver Medalists
Bronze medalists
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