Local fencer off to senior African championships
Coach Sello Maduma says they want Rahul van Manen to perform at his best, enjoy the tournament and celebrate him representing the country.
POLOKWANE- Rahul van Manen from the Sello Maduma Fencing Academy will represent the South African fencing team at the Senior African Championships, pencilled for Cairo in Egypt from June 17 to 24.
Van Manen was chosen out of myriads of fencers from various clubs in the country who performed well in recent national fencing competitions.
This will be Rahul’s second international fencing event following his success in Bulgaria and The Netherlands, in March and April respectively.
He currently ranks fourth in the senior national fencing category and will be hoping for a better performance to improve his ranking.
His coach, Sello Maduma says they wishes him well at the event.
“We don’t want to put pressure on him and say he must come with a gold medal.
“We just want him to perform at his best, enjoy the tournament and whatever he gets, we will appreciate. After all, he is representing the country at the event and it is a big deal for us.
“We are happy that he is in the national team and we are proud of his work. He is an inspiration to the young fencers in the academy and they enjoy fencing with him.”
He says Van Manen has been working hard in the gym and fine-tuning his fencing skills.
