Crane Lifters off to Uzbekistan

WEIGHLIFTING

KAMPALA - The national weightlifting team, The Crane Lifters, flew out Wednesday for the 6th Islamic Solidarity Sports Federation (ISSF) Weightlifting Championships in Uzbekistan.

The competition is due this Saturday and will run until Thursday next week in the city of Tashkent.

The International Weightlifting Federation (IWF) has ranked the championship that has attracted lifters from 57 countries as a silver qualification event to the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

The Ugandan team is featuring only male athletes in different weight categories: Zubair Kubo (96kg), Hakim Sempereza (73kg), Davis Nyiyoyita (55kg) and Mubarak Kivumbi (61kg), who is also the team coach.

Zubair Kubo said Team Uganda is upbeat

Salim Musoke, the president of Uganda Weightlifting Federation (UWF), has said IWF has changed the format of qualifying for the Olympics from national teams to an individual athlete's performance.

"Starting with the Tokyo Olympics, participants will qualify on individual basis and must have participated in at least six IWF-recognized events. We are trying to push them for this by the deadline of the final entry to the Tokyo Games," said Musoke.

Kubo and Nyiyoyita from Kisugu Unified Weightlifting Club are going for the fifth and fourth events respectively, while Sempereza and Kivumbi are for the fourth and third respective.

"Africa has a bloc of 60 lifters to the Tokyo Olympics and we are pushing to see that Ugandans can be part of that," said the IWF president.

Mubarak Kivumbi is the national team coach

Weightlifter Kubo said the team is upbeat for the qualification event and all eyes are on Tokyo.

"I want to add at least 10kg. In the All Africa Games I lifted a total of 301kg and made 302kg at the national Open Bonanza at Kisugu club in Makindye," he said.

"Qualifying is now at individual level of the athlete and we are all looking to the same," added Kubo, who won three bronze medals at the All Africa Games in Morocco.

Government, through the National Council of Sports (NCS), gave three tickets to the traveling Cranes Lifters.