By MWANGALA LISELI  –

ZAMBIAN judokas doubled the gold medals after minting eight more to take the medal tally to 18 at the just ended Southern African Union Sports Council Championship (SAUSCC) tournament in Swaziland.
After winning five gold medals on the opening day of the tournament, the Zambian juniors turned on the style minting an impressive 13 gold medals, four silvers and one bronze.
The additional eight gold medals were minted by Edward Kamwandi in the 90 kilogramme category, Davies Simbeye in the 100 kilogramme ranks, Lydia Zulu in the 78 kilogramme group and Given Chileshe in the 70 kilogramme competitors.
Stephen Mung’andu won gold in the 66 kilogramme event, Michael Mwabi in the 60 kilogramme category, Amos Sikazwe and Abigail Chindele in the 73 kilogramme and 48 kilogramm categories respectively.
Esther Sandu added to the three silver medals in the 52 kilogramme event with John Mwale minting Zambia the only bronze from the competition in the 81 kilogramme ranks.
Earlier, Simon Zulu, Lungowe Chendele had set the tone for the Zambians by being the first to take the gold medals on Day One and were followed by three more from Noctula Banda, a 57 kilogramme cadet, Naomi Zungu and Joshua Nyondo.
The other silver medals winners are Florence Mupeta, Taonga Soko and David Chisenga.
Zambia Judo Association (ZJA) vice-general secretary Mabvuto Ng’uni said the association was pleased with the performance of the judokas at the Swaziland-outing.
“Despite being a junior sport, we have proven how ready we are to compete at international level because we always bring back medals to the country,” Ng’uni bragged.
A total 19 judokas, who are expected back home today, represented Zambia at the SAUSCC championship that was sponsored by the Swaziland Judo Federation in Manzini. It also served as qualifiers for next year’s Olympic Games slated for Rio de Janeiro in Brazil.