World Taekwondo: Nigeria’s Akhilele wins one, loses one

Nigeria’s Santos Akhilele won his first fight 22-11 against Phouthasone Thammavong of Laos in the early hours of hours of Monday (Nigerian time) World Taekwondo Championship going on in Muju, South Korea.

And just as the celebration was still on, he lost narrowly by 16-14 to Zelaya Andres of Guyana in the next stage as the championship continues.

Olympic medallist and a member of the new board of the federation Chika Chukwumerije gave a little insight on the fight on a WhatsApp platform shared by a correspondent of Extrasportsnigeria.com. The Olympian hailed the Santos for the fights while underlining the improvement the Nigerian has exhibited over time.

He wrote, “If you saw Santos fight two years ago, you will be marvelled by his performance today. He was in control in both matches. In the match he lost, tactically he should have kept the pressure on the opponent. Every time he did not, the opponent tended to score. He was leading up until 7 seconds to go when the opponent scored a head shot after consistently pressing Santos. But he did fight very well in both matches. Well done to him.”

Tuesday will see Nigerian fighters compete in the Female -53kg, Female +73kg and Male -58kg.