Other Sports of Tuesday, 18 August 2015

Source: GNA

I felt very nervous - Kuyon

Joseph Tindan Kuyon with his manager Joseph Tindan Kuyon with his manager

Taekwondo silver medallist Joseph Tindan Kuyon, has admitted that he felt very nervous competing for the first at the World Children Taekwondo Cultural Festival in South Korea.

Kuyon made history as the first Ghanaian to win a medal at World Taekwondo championships.

The 13-year old brushed aside competition from athletes from Germany, Italy and Pakistan to qualify for the final where he lost to Haruna Yasbena of Indonesia in the 53kg category.

The 2013 bronze medallist at the Norlympic Championship expressed excitement about winning a silver medal at an international level and added that the laurel will motivate him to win gold in future Olympics and World tournaments.

Kuyon told the GNA Sports that “I am excited to win a medal. This is my first time of competing at that level and I felt very nervous but I managed to pull it off. I had a very tough competition from my opponents but I kept focused.

"I will keep training for the next world championship and i want to win a gold medal at the Olympics. It was a tough competition but I managed to go far. I kept listening to advice from my coach and kept fighting hard. The trophy will serve as a source of motivation to train harder and win more laurels for my country.’’

The coach of the athlete, Joe Banfro said that “My player is very talented and our hard work and intensive training are paying off. He has a very huge potential and a good material that can go the extra mile to win awards’’.

The World Children Taekwondo Culture Festival was a four-day event which drew participation from about 3000 children aged 5-13 from over 20 countries globally.