Mathews Punza

Mathews Punza (born 27 April 1988) is a Zambian judoka. He participated in the 2010 World Judo Championships and later championships.[1]

Mathews Punza
Personal information
NationalityZambian
Born (1988-04-27) 27 April 1988
Sport
SportJudo

Punza began studying judo at the age of six,[2] attending classes at Lilayi Police College.[2] As an adult, he became an officer in the police service.[2]

In 2015, Punza and fellow Zambian judoka Boas Munyonga traveled to Uzbekistan to study judo, under a scholarship program from the International Judo Federation.[3] 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.[4] 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.[5]

Punza competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, where he was Zambia's flag bearer during the opening ceremony.[6] In the men's 66 kg class, he defeated Golan Pollack of Israel in the second round, but lost to Adrian Gomboč of Slovenia in the third round.[7]

References
  1. "Mathews Punza – judoka". judoinside.com. Retrieved 7 August 2016.
  2. Wakung'uma, Shapa. Zambia: Looking At Judo in Police Service, The Times of Zambia (via AllAfrica.com), August 22, 2015.
  3. Munyonga, Punza Uzbekistan bound, The Zambia Daily Mail, February 11, 2015.
  4. Visa hitch knocks out Munyonga, Punza, the Zambia Daily Mail, February 25, 2016.
  5. Samuel, Zambia: Punza Makes Rio Team, The Times of Zambia (via AllAfrica.com), May 31, 2016.
  6. Akwei, Ismail. Colourful Africa parades at the Rio Olympics (East Africa), AfricaNews.com, August 9, 2016.
  7. "Mathews Punza". rio2016.com. Retrieved 7 August 2016.
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