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.

14 graduate from tennis course, Lesotho chess moves up world rankings

Fun at the national tennis courts in Maseru...

14 attendants have progressed from the Lesotho Lawn Tennis Association (LLTA) technical training course that was held last month.

The course was funded by the Lesotho National Olympic Committee (LNOC) as part of its pre-preparations for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games. Over 30 participants began the course which was supervised by International Tennis Federation representative Riaan Krujer and had two levels – a Play and Stay phase and a Level 1 stage.

The Play and Stay phase was an introductory course from which the top 24 participants progressed to the Level 1 phase.

The final 14 graduates comprise tennis players and teachers from different schools around Maseru. The plan now is that they will impart their knowledge by coaching tennis at schools in different regions of the country.

The course was part of efforts by the LTTA and LNOC to improve tennis in Lesotho by increasing the number of skilled and qualified coaches. After completing the two-week course participants went home with certificates of attendance.

To chess and Lesotho has moved up two places, from 172nd to 170th, in the latest World Chess Federation rankings. The world chess rankings are calculated using the average rating of a country’s top ten players and Lesotho has achieved its improved rankings due to the increase in the international ratings of local players.

All in all, Lesotho now has 37 active chess players with the country’s top ranked player being Kananelo Latela.

Lesotho started playing professional chess in 2012 but has made steady progress since then with the sport seeing a rise in tournaments and participants across the country.