Lesotho to shoot for gold at 2018 Africa Youth Games

Team Lesotho heads to Algeria...

Lesotho will compete in six disciplines at the 2018 Africa Youth Games next week looking for its first gold medal at the showpiece.

The championships will be held in the Algerian capital Algiers and will see the continent’s best young talents converge for glory.

The Africa Youth Games are held every four years to complement the All-Africa Games and are contested by athletes between the ages of 14 and 17 years. This year’s showpiece will run from July 17 to 27 and will serve as a qualifier for the 2018 Youth Olympics Games which will be held in Buenos Aires, Argentina later this year in October.

In Algeria, Lesotho will compete in athletics, beach volleyball, boxing, taekwondo, tennis and weightlifting; in total, the team will comprise 18 athletes.

Team Lesotho will be spearheaded by the athletics team which will comprise Matšeliso Seatle in the girls’ 1500 metres, Mojela Konoshe in the boys’ 100 metres and Tšepang Motjolopane in the boys’ 3000 metres races.

Lesotho also has high hopes in boxing where Phomolo Lengola will compete in the boys’ 56 kilogram class while Lehlohonolo Pitso will box in the 75kg competition. The Africa Youth Games will be Lengola’s second major youth competition in just over a year after he reached the quarterfinal at the 2017 Commonwealth Youth Games in the Bahamas last June.

In beach volleyball Lesotho will have a girls team of Montšeng Mabea and Matšeliso Nchakha and a boys pair of Nqheku Lepheane and Liteboho Mohau.

In taekwondo, Teboho Phasumane and Katleho Mokone will compete in the girls’ competition while Tumelo Mosala will fight in the boys’ section. In weightlifting Relebohile Mokhele will contest the girls’ 44 kg and Raballo Ramoneng will compete in the boys’ 56kg.

Finally, in tennis, Kekeletso Moseme and ‘Manyama Maisa will compete in the girls’ event while Nyathi Motlojoa and Mpaleng Sempe will be in the boys’ draw. The four prospects will also compete in the doubles and mixed doubles tournaments.

Team Lesotho will leave for Algiers on Sunday, July 15, and will return on July 29.

Taekwondo Lesotho star Marumo Moloisane makes bright start to life in Germany

Moloisane has made a promising start to his quest for Tokyo 2020 qualification...

Lesotho taekwondo star Marumo Moloisane is looking forward to the future after winning bronze at last month’s 2018 Austrian Open Tournament.

Moloisane, who is based in Germany, finished third in the 58 kilogram competition at the championships held in Innsbruck, Austria to jump-start his dreams of qualifying for the 2020 Olympic Games in Tokyo, Japan.

The 24 years old Khubetsoana born fighter is, of course, part of the IOC’s Olympic Solidarity programme which assists elite athletes selected by their respective National Olympic Committees (NOCs) in their preparations and qualification for Olympic Games.

Moloisane was one of six athletes chosen by the Lesotho National Olympic Committee (LNOC) last year to prepare for the 2020 Olympics in Tokyo, Japan.

Thanks to the scholarship, he is training at the renowned TCC Friedrichshafen High-Performance Training Centre in Germany and will be based there until 2020.

Olympic athletes Mosito Lehata and Tšepang Sello are also part of the Olympic Solidarity programme and are based at the University of the Free State Sports Science Institute (FSSSI) where they are rubbing shoulders with South African star Wade van Niekerk who is the world 400 metres champion.

The other athletes in the programme are Lerato Sechele (athletics), Moroke Mokhotho (boxing) and Tumelo Makae (cycling) although all three are under domestic placement and are training in Lesotho.

Moloisane at the TCC Centre in Germany

Moloisane’s success comes months after he started his Germany camp in December and it is a promising sign.

He narrowly missed the 2016 Rio Olympic Games in Brazil and expressed determination to avoid the same fate in 2020.

Moloisane said being based abroad will help.

“Being outside the country helps me compete regularly against players from different countries so there is no doubt that my international exposure will grow,” Moloisane said.

“Germany is a great place for my career because it produces the best taekwondo athletes,” he added. “Training outside the country is also preferable because when you are at home (in Lesotho) it is not easy to attend (international) tournaments.”

Also important: competing at international events such as the Austrian Open Tournament will boost Moloisane’s ranking points.

Those points will come in handy when World Taekwondo makes its final cut in 2020 for the 60 male fighters that will qualify for the taekwondo tournament at the Tokyo Olympics.

Lesotho shines at taekwondo gala, titanic clashes in NBL and Vodacom Premier League

Lesotho shining...

Lesotho put up a strong performance at the second Bulpae Best of the Best Taekwondo Tournament that was held last weekend in Germiston in South Africa.

The team won six gold, four silver and five bronze medals for a grand total of 15 medals at the championships to finish second in the final medal standings.

The Bulpae Best of the Best Taekwondo Tournament was contested by ten teams which were nine South African provinces and Lesotho as a guest team.

Lesotho’s team consisted of juniors and seniors. The juniors were 10 year-olds Katleho Moleka and Khethisa Molapo, 11 year-old Billy Sello and Khiba Mohapi who is 12 years old.

The senior team was made up of Kefuoe Nketle, Shale Majara, Maoe Mokoaqoa, Bongani Tshabalala, Makhotla Khoale, Lebenya Moalosi, captain Retšelisitsoe Makoaela and instructor Nthethe Masaile.

The team is part of the Taekwondo Marshall Arts programme that is run by the Lesotho Mounted Police Service.

To basketball and the National Basketball League continues this weekend with an exciting plate of action headlined by the meeting of A-Division leaders Bokamoso South against reigning champions KTA All-Stars on Saturday at the NUL basketball courts.

The match-up is a repeat of last season’s NBL finals in which KTA All-Stars swept Bokamoso South 3-0 to win the national crown.

Bokamoso South looking to maintain momentum...

However, the youth Bokamoso have grown from the experience. They are on top of the NBL A-Division standings after winning all their five games this season and are the only unbeaten team in the league. Bokamoso also won the 2016 Sprite Memorial Independence Tournament two weeks ago beating KTA All-Stars 50-46 along the way.

KTA, on the other hand, are fourth in the NBL standings, three points behind Bokamoso South. The champions have won three and lost one of their four NBL games this season.

Finally, to football and this weekend sees another pivotal line-up of fixtures in the Vodacom Premier League. The main dish is the clash between champions Lioli and rivals Bantu on Sunday at Setsoto Stadium. The sides are separated by just one point in the premiership standings and, depending on other results, the winner of the crunch tie could finish the weekend on top of the league.

In other action this weekend, log leaders Kick4Life host struggling Linare at the LCS Stadium on Sunday while second placed LMPS play LCS at the PTC Grounds on Saturday.

NBL Standings:

A-Division

		P	Points	W	L	PF	PA	DIFF	L10	Streak
1	Bokamoso South	5	10	5	0	317	186	131	5-0	W5
2	Lichocha	4	7	3	1	326	216	110	3-1	L1
3	Bashana Baheso	4	7	3	1	205	131	74	3-1	W2
4	KTA All-Stars	4	7	3	1	204	155	49	3-1	W1
5	NUL Rovers	3	6	3	0	154	94	60	3-0	W3
6	Leseli	4	6	2	2	156	131	25	2-2	L1
7	Bokamoso North	5	6	1	4	139	212	-73	1-4	L2
8	LCE	4	5	1	3	115	210	-95	1-3	W1
9	Khubestate	3	4	1	2	89	142	-53	1-2	L1
10	Limkokwing	4	4	0	4	114	196	-82	0-4	L4
11	Lerotholi	2	2	0	2	58	164	-106	0-2	L2
12	Botho University	2	0	0	2	0	40	-40	0-2	L2

Ladies League

		P	Points	W	L	PF	PA	DIFF	L10	Streak
1	Leseli	3	5	2	1	128	74	54	2-1	W2
2	KTA All-Stars	3	5	2	1	101	100	1	2-1	W1
3	Lichocha	2	4	2	0	63	18	45	2-0	W2
4	Bokamoso North	2	4	2	0	68	26	42	2-0	W2
5	LCE	4	4	0	4	53	150	-97	0-4	L4
6	Limkokwing	2	3	1	1	22	76	-54	1-1	L1
7	NUL	1	2	1	0	47	8	39	1-0	W1
8	Bashana Baheso	3	2	0	3	46	87	-41	0-3	L3
9	Botho University	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	-	-
9	Lerotholi	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	-	-
9	SW	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	-	-
12	Bokamoso South	1	0	0	1	0	20	-20	0-1	L1

Friday Night NBL action:

Result: Lerotholi Polytechnic 40-30 Lesotho College of Education