Nigeria Open champion, Peter Itiku attributed his success at the Nigeria Taekwondo International Open to constant training.
Itiku defeated Henry Nzelu of Team Oyo in the men’s -80kg final in a fierce contest.
Itiku told www.aclsports.com that he is excited to start 2019 with a gold medal.
He said, “I feel amazing because I worked for it, my training paid off. I and my teammates have been training for months with one of the best practitioner in the World and Olympic bronze medallist, Chika Chukwumerije (OLY) because of the Nigeria International Open; I am excited I eventually won the gold medal”.
The FCT athlete who lost to Nzelu twice last year said it would have been disastrous for him if he lost his third fight against the Oyo athlete.
He said, “I told myself that I do not want to lose to the same person for the third time and the mind set I brought into this tournament was to win.
“I kept on reminding myself that I came to the Nigeria Open, I will not settle for anything less than gold”.
He told www.aclsports.com that he has the intention of representing Nigeria at the 2019 All Africa Games in Morocco and the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
He said, “My target is to make the All African Games team so that I will represent Nigeria at the 2019 AAG in Morocco and winning the All Africa Games will be my wild card to represent my country at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics”.
Peter Itiku lost to Henry Nzelu in the finals of the 2018 Korea Ambassador Cup and National Sports Festival in Abuja
You look amazing. Keep it up.