Luanda — The national wrestling teams, male and female, will compete, from the 24th to the 26th of this month, in Alexandria, Egypt, in the qualifying tournament for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, in France.
In addition to the qualifying tournament, the Angolan fighting teams have two more challenges this month, namely the African Games, from the 8th to the 23rd, in Ghana, and the African Championship of the sport, in Alexandria (Egypt), from the 12th to the 22nd.
According to the president of the board of the General Assembly of the Angolan Fighting Federation, António Vemba, the national group began preparing the tests, since January 5th, with 21 youth, junior and senior fighters.
The official explained that for the African Games, the team will leave, this Thursday, for Ghana, in the first match, with a team of five athletes, of which 4 are male and a female.
On the 11th of this month, the other bulk of the team travels to Egypt, the second mission being the African Championship, in which 18 fighters will participate, 14 male and 4 female.
Then, in Alexandria, Egypt, from the 12th to the 22nd, it'll be the participation in the qualifying tournament for the Paris 2024 Olympic Games, in France, with 10 male and 2 female competitors.
The federation official pointed out that the Angolan delegation's objective is to win gold medals, in the 5 categories of 57, 65, 77 and 87 kg (men) and 57 (women), which they will compete in at the African Games.
He added that, in the African tournament, they will fight to collect the greatest number of medals, to stay on the podium, as well as in their last commitment, to qualify, for the first time, for the Olympic Games.
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At the 2023 African Championship, in Tunisia, Angola achieved four (4) medals, with athletes from the cadet class, Joseth Mavungo (-69kg) (Gold) and Manuel Veta (-66kg) (Bronze), in the wrestling specialty.
In juniors, they obtained medals for Roberto Mbayo (- 87kg) (silver) and Glória Vemba (-63 kg) (bronze), in the Greco-Roman specialty.
Called up athletes:
(Male)
65 kg, João Zalombo (junior) | 61 kg, Miguel Vata (Junior) | 55 kg, Tekasala Fernando (junior) | 77 kg, Miguel Lukau (junior) | 65 kg, Manaceu Nganda (junior), | 87 kg, Roberto MBaio (senior) | 77 kg, Francisco Kadima (senior) |72 kg, Emanuel MBeza (senior) | 60 kg, Reginaldo da Silva (senior) | 55 kg, Bofenda David (senior) | 60kg, Jorge António Jorge (senior) | 63 kg, Fernando Matondo (senior) | 57kg, Seco Miguel (senior) | 77kg, Rodrigues Kiala (senior) | 71 kg, Dário Makiesse (cadet) | 51kg, Makaya Katendi (cadet)
(Female)
65kg, Sofia Vemba (junior) | 57kg, Lassaleth Esperança (junior) | 53 kgs, Mbuka Madalena (senior) | 68 kg, Joseth Mavumbo (cadet) | 55 kg, Maria Kachoco (cadet)
