Tong Il Moo Do: Kenya wins Mombasa Open title for sixth consecutive time

Tom Kabochi from Kenya displays some katas during the opening of the 2018 Mombasa Open Tong-il Moo-do championship at the Aga Khan Academy hall, Sept 09, 2018. [PHOTO BY GIDEON MAUNDU/STANDARD]

Kenya floors them all to lift annual Mombasa Open title for sixth time

Kenya won 14 gold, 13 silver and 12 bronze medals to retain the Mombasa Open Tong-IL- Moo-Do martial Arts title for the sixth consecutive year.

Kenya successfully won the championships after topping the world at the Aga Khan Academy, Mombasa.

Kenya, coached by Ibrahim Mchumba, kept their expectations alive by bagging 39 medals. However, the medal haul was below that of last year’s team, where Kenya bagged 75 medals in total.

But that did not dampen the spirits of the hosts, who were oozing class in their show.

Kenya had received a shocking start in the tournament after their closest challengers, Philippines, dominated most of the events. But the Kenyan players recovered in good time and steadied their ship to victory.

Philippines finished second with seven gold medals. They did not have any silver or bronze. Nigeria were third with two gold, three silver and one bronze medals.

In events performance, Geovane Gella (Philippines) won the senior men individual Forms finals with nine points followed by Kenya’s Elvis Malipe, who had 8.7 points.

In the individual special techniques finals, Gella bagged his second gold medal with 8.85 points followed by Nigeria’s Ogene Ifeanyi with 8.80 points.

Koume Dioudome of Ivory Coast won bronze.

In the senior women individual Forms final, Arine Busalpa of Philippines continued with her dominance as she retained the title with victory from 8.8 points.

Suwannaluck Phakdiwichitkul (Thailand) was second with 8.4 points while Kenyan Salma Ali was third with 7.75 points.

In the Teams Forms Open category final, Philippines beat Kenya A and B teams to win another gold with 9.05 points.

In the Teams special technique final, Kenya A won gold with 8.85 points while Nigeria settled for silver medal with 8.45 points. Kenya B, with 8.40 points, were third.

In the junior individual Forms, Kenya won all medals on offer. Joseph Clement won gold with 7.75 points, Alamin Ismail settled for silver with 7.5 points, while Simon Timos was third with 5.65 points.

In junior women individual Forms, Kenya’s Nina Inan and Mwatum Isma won gold and silver with 7.5 points and 6.80 points respectively.

Ministry of Sports and Heritage Chief Administrative Secretary Noor Hassan Noor pledged to support the federation with Sh5million. [Ernest Ndunda]