Zambia’s Simon Zulu has won a bronze medal in the -60 KG weight category at the 2023 African Senior Judo Championships, being held in Casablanca, Morocco.
On his way to the medal, Zulu defeated Moussa Diop of Senegal in the quarterfinals, Youssy Samy of Egypt in the semifinals, and Fraj Dhouibi of Tunisia in the repechage match on Thursday 8th September 2023.
Meanwhile, Zulu's compatriot Steven Mung'andu also had a strong showing at the championships. He defeated Koga Paziaud of the Gambia and Patrick Jason Ngawili of the Central African Republic to win Pool C of the -66 kg weight category.
In the semifinals, Mung'andu lost to Mohamed Abdelmawgoud of Egypt, the eventual gold medalist. He then faced Aziz Harbi of Tunisia in the bronze medal match but lost by ippon.
Judo Association of Zambia (JAZ) General Secretary Mabvuto N'guni said that the results from Casablanca give both athletes a chance to earn Olympic qualification points.
"This is an advancement towards Olympic qualification, especially for Zulu," he said. "We are confident that both athletes will continue to record good results and improve their ranking points, which will give them a better chance of qualifying for the Paris 2024 Games."
N'guni also revealed that the qualification period for the Paris Olympics runs until June 2024.
As a result, the focus for now is to have the athletes compete in as many competitions as possible during this qualification period to improve their ranking.
The 2023 African Championships started with a gala celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Africa Judo Union on the 5th of September before competition from the 7th to the 10th of September 2023.
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