The pair of national Taekwondo team Regis Iyumva and Aline Ndacyayisenga have started intensive training ahead of the forthcoming Rio 2016 Olympic Games qualifiers set for February 4-7 in Agadir, Morocco.

The duo started training on Sunday at the Amahoro Indoor stadium. Iyumva will compete in the U-58kg category while Aline Ndacyayisenga will be competing in the U-57kgs category ahead of the 31st Olympic Games which will be held from August 5 to 21 next year in Brazil’s Rio de Janeiro city.

Iyumva is in great mood and fine form to land Taekwondo’s first Olympic ticket for the country.

"This is a good opportunity for me to make history; preparations are really going on well. I am learning and improving by the day, I will do everything I can to qualify for the Olympic Games.”

Speaking to Times Sport in an interview, national team head Coach Allan Irene Bagire revealed that they picked Iyumva and Ndacyayisenga following their strong performance in the recently concluded Morocco International Taekwondo Open which was staged in the same coastal city of Agadir.

"It was our debut in that tournament; however, both Iyumva and Ndacyayisenga were eliminated in the quarter finals ranking fifth and twelfth, respectively in over 35 international countries that competed, so it gave us a big motivation ahead of the qualifiers,” said Bagire

He noted that the pair have kicked off preparations with 10 other national team players so from January 4, they will begin training separately under his close eyes.

"We shall be conducting a six-hour training session daily, four hours morning and two hours evening, so as to exploit the ample time we have before the competition,” added Bagire

In the just-concluded Morocco International Open, Iyumva reached the quarter-final in his category after defeating a Tunisian and a Dutch before being eliminated by Jrad Oussama, who went on to win gold medal, while Ndacyayisenga defeated Danish and Moroccan opponents in her first two matches and was one game way from claiming bronze medal, when she lost to Canada’s Christense Louise.

To qualify for Rio 2016 Olympic Games, a player has to win gold or silver medal from these qualifiers.

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