The 2016 South-East Taekwondo Championships will take place at the Dan Anyiam Stadium, Owerri in Imo State from Tuesday (June 28) until Wednesday (June 30). 

Imo State Taekwondo Association chairman Ferguson Oluigbo is optimistic that the tournament, where athletes will compete in Poomsae and Kyorugi events, will unearth promising youngsters in the region that can then be fast-tracked into the national system. 

The competition will involve competitors from  Imo, Abia, Anambra, Enugu and Ebonyi states. 

“The tournament was borne out of the realisation that taekwondo has not had a zonal competition in the South-East for a while now and it is necessary to catch most of these children from when they are quite young,” said Oluigbo. 

“The competition is also to make sure that our athletes and coaches are up-to-date in terms of competition and readiness for national competitions. 

"Nigeria will benefit if more of these competitions are everywhere.

“We are starting small but we believe that with time it will become bigger than now.”

Nigeria had qualified a competitor in taekwondo for the last three Olympic Games but will not be represented at Rio 2016.

The country's team failed to perform to expectations at the Olympic qualifying tournament in Morocco in February. 

Among those who failed to qualify was African Games gold and silver medallists Uzoamaka Otuadinma and African Games silver medallist Chinazum Nwosu.

The team's performance drew criticism from Nigeria Taekwondo Federation President George Ashiru.

“I’m not happy Nigeria lost the Olympic ticket in taekwondo, but some people think that they could achieve result out of selfish interest," he said.

“What is important at the moment is for us to see the Olympic miss as a bitter lesson that we have to learn from to move the game forward in Nigeria.”