They are to take part in the 36th edition of the African championship.

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The judo national selection left the country this morning on board a Camairco flight to Libreville Gabon where they are expected to take part in the 36th edition of the African championship. The delegation comprising 16 athletes, four trainers, a doctor and physiotherapist is led by the head of communication at the ministry of Sports and Physical Education, Alphonse Ateba Ndoumou.

Three athletes came in from France and one from Germany and joined the rest of the team which had been training for two weeks in Yaounde for the onward journey to Gabon. 30 home-based athletes were initially selected for two-week training from among which 11were retained for the final round of preparations for the Gabonese expedition.

According to the president of the Cameroon judo federation, Alain Kingue, Cameroon stands a fifty per cent chance of emerging victorious in the competition as most of the athletes have experienced at least three editions of the African championship. Their ambition during the Libreville games will therefore be to grab the African title as well as gain points for qualification for the 2016 Olympic Games. The competition will also serve as preparation for the African games since Cameroon is already qualified.

Cameroon however risks not taking part in the competition given that a consignment of equipment bought by the federation which they were to collect upon arrival in Gabon was blocked by the Gabonese border authorities. The federation is in contact with the ministry of sports to buy new equipment given that the international judo federation has prescribed a formal dressing for all judo athletes in competition. After the African championship, the judo athletes will engage in preparations for the World Championship to take place in Astana-Karzastan from August 20th to 28th.

At the national level, the cadet championship will be taking place in Mbalmayo on the 2nd of May while the team competition by region will take place on May 9 with athletes from the Centre, littoral, East, North West and South west regions taking part. The individual championship will take place in June and the cup of Cameroon will take place in Garoua next October.

 

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