Nigeria Taekwondo Federation (NTF) technical director, Chika Chukwumerije has revealed that the body decided to have a shift in date for the international competition due to their strong desire of allowing more competitors from the country take part.
Chukwumerije stressed that it was not as much as matter of standard and quality, as a case of looking inwards to what Nigeria and its athletes stand to gain from the competition and in its aftermath.
The Beijing Olympics bronze medalist told sports247.ng that the NTF opted for a new date in February for the Nigeria Taeekwondo Open to enable the country benefit from results in the competition.
Chukwumerije explained: “Had the tournament gone ahead few Nigerian athletes would have made it; which would not be nice for us as the host nation.
“However, we are optimistic that more athletes will get their registration done before the new date in February 2019.”
