Mathews Punza

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Mathews Punza
Personal information
Nationality Zambian
Born (1988-04-27) 27 April 1988 (age 35)
Sport
Sport Judo

Mathews Punza (born 27 April 1988) is a Zambian judoka. He participated in the 2010 World Judo Championships and later championships. [1]

Punza began studying judo at the age of six, [2] attending classes at Lilayi Police College. [2] As an adult, he became an officer in the police service. [2]

In 2015, Punza and fellow Zambian judoka Boas Munyonga traveled to Uzbekistan to study judo, under a scholarship program from the International Judo Federation. [3] Punza and Munyoga were unable to compete in the 2016 European Open Championship, as a result of visa difficulties with the government of the Czech Republic. [4] In spite of this, Punza was able to qualify to compete in the Olympics by scoring enough points in competition to meet the continental qualification quota. [5]

Punza competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, where he was Zambia's flag bearer during the opening ceremony. [6] In the men's 66 kg class, he defeated Golan Pollack of Israel in the second round, but lost to Adrian Gomboč of Slovenia in the third round. [7]

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References

  1. "Mathews Punza judoka". judoinside.com. Retrieved 7 August 2016.
  2. 1 2 3 Wakung'uma, Shapa. Zambia: Looking At Judo in Police Service , The Times of Zambia (via AllAfrica.com), August 22, 2015.
  3. Munyonga, Punza Uzbekistan bound , The Zambia Daily Mail, February 11, 2015.
  4. Visa hitch knocks out Munyonga, Punza , the Zambia Daily Mail, February 25, 2016.
  5. Samuel, Zambia: Punza Makes Rio Team , The Times of Zambia (via AllAfrica.com), May 31, 2016.
  6. Akwei, Ismail. Colourful Africa parades at the Rio Olympics (East Africa) , AfricaNews.com, August 9, 2016.
  7. "Mathews Punza". rio2016.com. Archived from the original on 25 November 2016. Retrieved 7 August 2016.
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