Mathews Punza (born 27 April 1988) is a
Zambian
judoka. He participated in the
2010 World Judo Championships
The 2010 World Judo Championships were held at the Yoyogi National Gymnasium in Tokyo, Japan from 9 to 13 September.
Schedule
Medal summary
Men's events
Women's events
Medal table
References
{{International judo
Worl ...
and later championships.
Punza began studying judo at the age of six,
[Wakung'uma, Shapa. ]
Zambia: Looking At Judo in Police Service
', The Times of Zambia (via AllAfrica.com), August 22, 2015. attending classes at
Lilayi Police College.
As an adult, he became an officer in the police service.
In 2015, Punza and fellow Zambian judoka
Boas Munyonga traveled to
Uzbekistan to study judo, under a scholarship program from the
International Judo Federation. Punza and Munyoga were unable to compete in the 2016 European Open Championship, as a result of visa difficulties with the government of the
Czech Republic. In spite of this, Punza was able to qualify to compete in the Olympics by scoring enough points in competition to meet the continental qualification quota.
Punza competed at the
2016 Summer Olympics
The 2016 Summer Olympics ( pt, Jogos Olímpicos de Verão de 2016), officially the Games of the XXXI Olympiad ( pt, Jogos da XXXI Olimpíada) and also known as Rio 2016, was an international multi-sport event held from 5 to 21 August 20 ...
in
Rio de Janeiro, where he was Zambia's flag bearer during the opening ceremony. In the
men's 66 kg class, he defeated
Golan Pollack
Golan Pollack ( he, גולן פולק; born 10 September 1991 in Yehud, Israel) is an Israeli Olympic judoka. who competed in the half lightweight (under 66 kg) weight category.
Pollack won a bronze medal in the 2015 World Judo Championshi ...
of Israel in the second round, but lost to
Adrian Gomboč of Slovenia in the third round.
References
External links
*
1988 births
Living people
Zambian male judoka
Olympic judoka for Zambia
Judoka at the 2016 Summer Olympics
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