A young athlete from Bryanston High School has recently been ranked the U21 judo champion in South Africa.
Koketso Rammutla has been practising judo since he was in Grade 0 and has previously been featured in the Sandton Chronicle in Two titles for judo star [Week ending 1 February].
Koketso had a brilliant start to the year when he won two competitions within a few days of each other. Leading up to his participation in the national competition, he worked on both his strength and technique. He also had a knee injury leading up to the championships but despite this managed to come out top in his age group. “Leading up to the South Africa championships I couldn’t train due to being injured for three weeks so the minute I got a chance to train, I trained with the mindset that I’ve got to work harder than my opponents.”
He shared how competing in the championships is always a great feeling but his win this year was his most memorable.
“Last year, due to unforeseen circumstances, I got disqualified in the finals and I really had it in me to win but I had to take the disappointment and frustration and tell myself ‘get up champ, you’ve got to keep working’.”
Through his hard work, Koketso hoped to add to more medals to his collection and said he was proud of the results. “I remember talking to my dad saying imagine if I bring back three gold medals and fast forward now the feeling of winning the U21s was a special feeling.”
He added that it is not only an individual effort but also thanks to his coaches Nikola Filipov and Zack Piontek as well as his training partners at the University of Pretoria’s judo club.
Koketso hopes to compete in the Commonwealth Judo Championships in England later this year. He added that it would be wonderful to compete in the championships but he still needs to find funding to compete in the competition as he currently doesn’t have a sponsor.
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Related Articles:
https://www.citizen.co.za/sandton-chronicle/213274/bryanston-judo-atheletes-awarded-top-honours-by-joburg-judo/
https://www.citizen.co.za/sandton-chronicle/212804/hajime-judo-academy-does-proud/
