Africa News Bulletin

Mali: National Taekwondo Championship 2022 – The Bamako League Wins First Place

This Saturday, September 17, 2022, the finals of the 2022 National Taekwondo Championship were played at the Salamatou Maïga Sports Palace in Bamako. Sponsored by the Ministry of Youth and Sports, Responsible for Civic Education and Construction Citizen, the event was chaired by the Minister in charge of Religious Affairs, Worship and Customs, Dr. Mahamadou Koné.

Prior to this day, on Friday September 16, playoffs were held at the same place. This event was also chaired by the Minister of Religious Affairs, Worship and Customs Dr. Mahamadou Koné. After the entry of the officials, parades of the respective leagues of: Kayes, Koulikoro, Sikasso, Ségou, Mopti, Gao, Bamako and USFAS took place. Then, the room sang the national anthem of Mali accompanied by the national brass band. It was after that the Mayor of the district of Bamako welcomed the delegations and the public who came en masse. He recalled that Taekwondo is the only sport in which Mali has won at the world level. In this case, the coronation of Daba Modibo Keita. The Edile of Bamako recommended to the fighters, fair play.

After the delivery of certificates of recognition to some great figures of Malian Taekwondo, presenting him from the sponsor, Dr. Mahamadou Koné, Minister of Religious Affairs, Worship and Customs, delivered his speech. He said that this year’s national championship is placed under the sign of the search for: “excellence for well-being, peace and social cohesion”. He also confirmed the organization of competitions, training courses for all leagues and room masters, despite the economic and security situation in our country. That referees and coaches will participate in international courses to raise their level on the international scene.

Just after these declarations, we had the right to fights and demonstrations. The first fight concerned the junior-male category, less than 55 kg. This fight opposed Alassane Mohamed from Gao who was dressed in blue and Mahamadou Gassama from Bamako in red, all champions of their respective leagues in their category. It was a fight broken down into three rounds or halves. In the 1st round, if Alassane defeated Mohamed by the score of 10 to 4, during the last two rounds he was overthrown in the end by Mohamed Gassama by 25 to 22. Thus Mohamed Gassama of Bamako won the National Taekwondo Championship in its category.

The second fight featured: Maïmouna Konaté from the Koulikoro league and Mariam Sangaré from Bamako. This is the category of senior women under 55 kg. Mariam Sangaré from Bamako was largely beaten by Maïmouna Konaté from Koulikoro by a total score of 45 to 28 over the three rounds. While the Sangaré fighter had started well with a very slight advantage of 10 to 11.

We attended, at the end of these first two fights, extraordinary demonstrations of our taekwondoists by self defenses and Taekwondo demonstration .Just after, the poomsae final of the 31 to 40 years old category. A poomsae fight is a real fight between imaginary opponents. The technical sequences of a poomsae correspond to karate katas. The finalists should make two poomsae to decide. It was Adoul Kayum Cissé from Mopti against Mamadou Dembélé from Bamako. Abdoul Kayum Cissé had the following points respectively during his two poomsaes: 3.8 points in one minute thirty seconds and 4.1 points in 35 seconds. While Mamadou Dembélé obtained 4.5 points in one minute thirty seconds, during his 1st poomsae and 4.8 points in the second. Thus, Mamadou Dembélé is crowned champion of poomsae 2022.

The last fight opposed the category of male seniors, under 68 kg. Mohamed Fofana of USFAS dominated Fousseyni Coulibaly of Bamako to win the final bout in his category. At the end of these different events, the trophies are awarded by Dr. Mahamadou Koné and other official personalities. Dr Koné presented the Champion trophy to the Bamako league.

The Bamako league recorded a total of 23 medals including 17 gold, 4 silver and bronze. It is followed by the USFAS with 4 gold medals and one silver. Koulikoro is third with two gold medals, 4 silver and 10 bronze. Kayes ranks fourth with one gold medal, 6 silver and 11 bronze. Mopti is fifth with a gold medal, 3 silvers and 2 bronzes. Sikasso is sixth with one gold medal, 2 silver and 11 bronze. Gao is seventh with zero gold medals, 3 silver and 7 bronze. And finally, Ségou ranks eighth with zero gold medals, 3 silver and six bronze. There were no losers because martial arts heal, especially Taekwondo.

Maliweb

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