Martial Arts: Kenyans flourish in South Korea

Member of the Kenya Tong-IL Moo-Do Federation National Team, Edwin Musungu 68kg category on arrival at JKIA after competing at the Cheongju World Martial Arts Mastership Tournament in South Korea [Courtesy]

Kenya took another leap of faith into Asian martial arts traditions with an encouraging return of medal harvest as the Chungju World Martial Masterships ended in South Korea yesterday.

The national team christened Team Jasiri went one better than the 2016 performance raking in two gold medals, two silver and five bronze in the unified martial arts competition often referred to as Tong-Il Moo-Do.

Rose Wacheke and the Forms team gave Kenya two precious silver medals on the last day of the Masterships staged at the Korea National University of Transportation in South Korean city of Chungju.

Evans Oduory and Elvis Malipe each bagged a bronze medal to bring Kenya’s total medal haul to nine.

Kenya had won five medals on Thursday as the East African nation went toe-to-toe with the Far East powerhouses.

The two gold medals came courtesy of Gordon Ochieng and Lona Abiero.

In yesterday’s action, Wacheke who had overpowered Ailin Micaela of Paraguay 18-12 in the semifinal found the women 65kg sparring final demanding as she lost to Thailand’s Kachana Dawan.

In the first round Wacheke’s kicks missed target time and again allowing Dawan to take a 10-4 lead, which she defended in the second round.

Dawan had shown clear indication of wining gold after she easily dismissed Bianca Vanessa from Philippines 8-0 en route to the final.

“My opponent enjoyed height advantage and swept me unawares,” said Wacheke.

In men’s 70kg sparring, experienced Odoury failed to make it to the final after he was knocked out in the 58th second of the first round of semifinal. Despite the defeat by eventual winner River Desuyo from Philippines, Odoury won Kenya bronze by virtue of making it to the semifinals.

Desuyo won gold after narrowly edging out Iran’s Hassan Amjadizakele.

Malipe gave Kenya the fifth bronze after making it to the semifinal before losing in the 35th second of the first round to technically superior Arnel Ano-os from Philippines who went ahead to win gold by beating Malaysia’s Sued Muhammad in the final.

Kenya wrapped up the medal haul with a silver in men’s open bon basic (team forms) category after scooping 8.8 points against Philippines 8.9 points who grabbed the gold medal.

Kenya Tong Il Moo Do Secretary Hillary Wahanda blamed the jury on biased officiating. “When Kenya is playing Philippines, the jury keep on pausing the match due to persistent interventions by their coaches, which they use as tactics to intimidate the umpires,” said Wahanda. However, the federation President Clarence Mwakio hailed his players for their exemplary performance in a tough competition.

“Although we did not grab top spot, our presence was felt. It was better performance than 2016 when we made our debut,” said Mwakio.

He said Kenya faced the best and experienced players in the world at the event.