Taekwondo Federation confident of wining SAG medals

The national body for Taekwondo is aiming to win four gold medals at the upcoming South Asian Games (SAG) to be held in Kathmandu December 1-10.  

“Training for the SAG has not begun as yet but we are ready to convene the National Pool. We hope to begin with a training camp in Nuwara Eliya. We hope to select 32 for the fighting category in the National Pool, comprising 16 men and women each”.

Fifteen women will be selected from trials to be held later this year,” said a top official of the Sri Lanka Taekwondo Federation. They hope to pick a team of 16, eight men and women each for the Games.  In 2016, Sri Lanka won one silver and four bronze medals at the Games held in India. 

Taekwondo is a new sport at the South Asian Games. Leading Taekwondo players come from Afghanistan and India. 

There are about 28,000 Taekwondo practitioners in Sri Lanka. They come from the three Armed Forces, Police, and the Colombo, Ratnapura and Kandy regions. 

Before the South Asian Games, the federation hopes to bring down two coaches from Korea to prepare players for the event. In addition there will be several local coaches to assist them.
 -SP