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Tadious Manyepo

Sports Reporter

AN eventful decade which started with the staging of the FIFA World Cup on the doorstep in South Africa ushered in a new crop of sportspersons in Zimbabwe who have undoubtedly put the country on the world’s sporting map.

Just a year before 2010, an articulate boxer Charles Manyuchi launched his professional career in the ring, while karate star Samson Muripo became the first African to win a world title at the Kyokushin Karate World Cup in Japan as the pair would dominate headlines in the local newspapers for the next 10   years.

Warriors talisman Khama Billiat was still a promising academy novice at the Aces Youth Soccer Academy before he was loaned to CAPS United a year later where he began writing a success story which would put him amongst the best in the continent in January 2017.

The likes of motocross ace Tanya Muzinda, kobudo maestro Wilfred Mashaya, who has just been entered into the Barcelona and London Halls of Fame, footballer Knowledge Musona and wheelchair racing sensation Margaret Bangajena all helped put Zimbabwe on the world’s sporting map in the just-ended decade.

Serial Olympic gold medallist and now Youth, Sports, Arts and Recreation Minister Kirsty Coventry also weighed in with four gold and as many silver medals in the 2011 All-Africa Games before returning to clinch three gold medals at the same event four years later.

But it is the trio of Muripo, Manyuchi and Billiat, who stood head and shoulders above the rest as they did significantly well in their respective sport codes.

After becoming the first one to defeat Mordecai Donga, who immediately announced his retirement soon after that loss in 2012, Manyuchi went on to challenge for the World Boxing Council (WBC) International in the welterweight category.

He beat Patrick Allotey to the crown in 2014 before he successfully defended that title against David Caceres in Lusaka, Zambia, the same year on his way to be voted the Sportsperson of the Year.

The now 31-year-old again managed to retain the belt against Italy’s Gianluca Frezza, a year later.

He would advance his career to claim the WBC silver welterweight crown after beating Dmitry Mikhailenko via a unanimous decision.

He wouldn’t repeat the feat in March 2017 when hitting the canvas as his tactics failed him against Uzbek Qudratillo Abdukarov, who snatched the title in place of the highly-rated Zimbabwean.

And the Chivhu-based pugilist took a rest before deciding to come back in May 2019 when he beat Argentine Pablo Ezequel Acosta by a technical knockout at the Harare International Conference Centre.

And after all the toil, Manyuchi would finally become the first world champion from Zimbabwe when he beat Diego Gallardo of Argentina to claim the World Boxing Federation middleweight title in Harare in September 2019.

The fighter’s record stands at an impressive 23-4-1.

On the other hand, Billiat, the diminutive Warriors and Kaizer Chiefs star did so well to deserve his place amongst the top three performers in the just-ended season.

Yet one would have been forgiven for dismissing him after watching him perform awfully in the first three games he played for CAPS United before he moved to South African Premiership side Ajax Cape Town in 2010.

Billiat came on as a second half substitute in the match CAPS United drew against then newly promoted Douglas Warriors.

Former CAPS United and Warriors midfielder Tafadzwa Rusike would mockingly remark that: “Look at the player which the coach (Lloyd Chitembwe) introduced in that Douglas Warriors match to change its complexion”

But no sooner had he been regarded as a flop did Billiat start to make waves in South Africa.

The Mufakose-born footballer was easily the star of Mamelodi Sundowns’ CAF Champions League success story in 2016 when the team virtually swept the board in their local league before becoming the only club to taste continental glory from Southern Africa this century.

Billiat was duly named the Footballer of the Year, Players’ Player of the Year as well as the Midfielder of the Year before he controversially settled for second place in the CAF Player of the Year award for players plying their trade in the continent.

Ironically, the player to win that accolade, Dennis Onyango, who was his teammate at Sundowns, had failed to capture either the Player of the Year or the Players’ Player of the Year award back in South Africa.

Nevertheless, Billiat still remains the only Zimbabwean to achieve that feat.

But, it is Muripo, who takes the stick for The Herald’s Sportsperson of the Decade award.

The karateka has either won a silver or gold in world competitions consistently throughout the decade.

After becoming the first African to win a world title in 2009, Muripo has never looked back.

He was the heavyweight champion in the 2013 So-Kyokushin Union Karate tournament held in China.

He would follow that up with another polished performance when he snatched gold in the Men’s 35 years-plus Open weight section in the third So-Kyokushin karate international tournament in China, the same year he won the Sportsperson of the Year award here in Zimbabwe.

In the fourth Ohishi Cup So-Kyokushin international tournament held in Iran in 2018, Muripo again walked out the winner in the 35 to 40 years Open-weight category.

That was the first of a hat-trick of gold medals that same year as he went on to clinch the Young Kumite Men’s Open pool in the 49th All Japan karate as well as in the IKOKU international full contact tournament in South Africa.

Unlike Manyuchi, whose WBF title is not as important as the WBC crown and other organisations in terms of rating, Muripo’s prizes are the highest in the sport.

And, of course, he would wrap the decade with yet another World Cup title which he claimed in the Veterans category in Moscow, Russia on October 6, 2018.

Fittingly, he dedicated that honour to his father who was buried back home while he pursued the global title in Russia.

Muripo said he owes everything to God.

“I am humbled for what God has done to my career. It needs training, training and more training. Discipline is a virtue, and I will be happy to produce karatekas who will take the sport further,” he said.

Muripo is currently the Africa development officer for the International Karate Organisation Kykushinkaikan: World So-Kyokushin.

. . . optimistic of 2020

Ellina Mhlanga

Sports Reporter

HE has become a hero and an inspiration to many aspiring athletes with his performances on the international scene, and he is not done as yet.

Zimbabwe’s top karateka Samson Muripo looks ahead to the future with hope of achieving more.

Muripo, who has remained humble despite his success stories, has made it clear that he is still in the game, and for this year, his main assignment is the Second So-Kyokushin World Karate Championship tournament to be hosted by Japan in April.

Muripo’s hard work and dedication have over the years paid dividends and in the just past year, he won his second world title when he fought his way to the top at the Sixth Kyokushin Karate World Cup in Russia last October.

The renowned karateka put behind him the sad news of his father’s death just before going into competition and went on to be crowned world champion in the Veterans Open category.

He first won a world title in 2009 at the same tournament in Japan.

Following his success last year, Muripo has expressed his desire to continue making waves on the global platform with his first assignment for this year set for Japan.

“The Second So-kyokushin World Karate Championship is my first assignment (for 2020).

“I never stopped training after my Russia victory. The take-off so far has been good.

“There is no shortcut to success, and nothing can beat hard work, so I thrive to make use of every training opportunity that comes my way in order to trade high, come tournament day. I am planning tremendous success,” said Muripo.

The world champion is also set to compete at the Sixth So-Kyokushin International Karate Championship tournament “Oishi Cup” scheduled for Iran in August.

The tournament is the biggest event for So-Kyokushin in the Middle East and Muripo is hoping it will be a good year for him.

The country’s most decorated karateka, who hails from Chimanimani which was affected by Cyclone Idai and lost his father while he was already in Russia for the world tournament, said 2019 was tough for him.

“2019 was a tough year for me with the Cyclone Idai effects and the loss of my father. However, God had to address my grief thereafter, letting me scoop gold in Russia, an award which is very difficult to achieve, especially by an African individual and from Zimbabwe with so much challenges,” Muripo said.

Muripo has also been involved in the grooming of upcoming fighters and said they were looking forward to more local competitions this year.

“As an organisation, we will have more local events early in February and June or July promoting upcoming fighters to become seasonal fighters,” Muripo said.

For his build-up to the major competitions, he will continue working with the likes of Zimbabwe So-kyokushin Karate-Do Organisation technical director Kumbirai Musinami and is confident they will continue setting the bar high for upcoming karatekas.