By Manas James Okony<\/p>\n
East Africa Challenge, a premier kickboxing event on the continent, concluded on Saturday in the South Sudanese capital, Juba.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n This year’s competition marked the third edition of the challenge, organized by the South Sudan Kickboxing Federation (SSKF) under the empowering theme, “The Road to Thailand.”<\/p>\n The event aims to prepare South Sudan’s finest fighters for the World Muay Thai Championship, which is set to take place in Thailand from March 4 to 18, 2025. As the nation gears up for the international stage, three athletes\u2014James Majok Gau, Abednego Thon (popularly known as Wizzy), and Sky Okony\u2014will represent South Sudan.<\/p>\n Held at the Nyakuron Cultural Centre, this year\u2019s challenge featured a thrilling showdown, particularly in the MMA category, where Wizzy delivered a powerful performance by knocking out his Kenyan opponent, Steve Biko, thus securing the championship title. However, the event wasn’t without its disappointments; in the Muay Thai category, South Sudan\u2019s star athlete Majok was unexpectedly knocked out by Ethiopia\u2019s Rabik Sani.<\/p>\n Following the matches, Puro Okello Obob, president and head coach of the SSKF, spoke to No. 1 Citizen Daily Newspaper to congratulate the winners and assess the outcome of the event.<\/p>\n “In every game, there is a winner and a loser. It was shocking that Majok unexpectedly lost; he underestimated his opponent which led to his defeat,” he remarked.<\/p>\n Puro praised Wizzy’s impressive victory, stating, “Wizzy knocked out his opponent decisively, and that\u2019s how the match is won.”<\/p>\n The SSKF president emphasized the importance of continued support for kickboxing in South Sudan and expressed confidence that his team would emerge victorious in Thailand in March.<\/p>\n In his post-fight remarks, Wizzy declared, “As a country, we are not here to just participate in kickboxing; we aim to lead Africa.” His Kenyan rival, Biko, accepted the result gracefully, indicating his intent to prepare for a rematch.<\/p>\n Meanwhile, Rabik Sani, the Ethiopian victor over Majok, acknowledged the difficulty of his win and extended an invitation to Majok for an away match in Ethiopia, promoting a spirit of unity and sportsmanship.<\/p>\n The East Africa Challenge stands as more than just a showcase for athletic talent; it represents a significant event in the African kickboxing calendar. The SSKF organized this year\u2019s challenge with support from Smart Capital Limited, a financial institution based in Juba that recognizes the potential of sports to foster unity and development within South Sudan.<\/p>\n Silphano Oluoch, the general manager of Smart Capital, expressed unwavering commitment to promoting kickboxing in the region.<\/p>\n “We believe in South Sudan,” he stated. “Today’s matches were thrilling, and the performances by Sani against Majok and Wizzy against Biko highlighted the immense potential this country possesses.”<\/p>\n As South Sudan prepares its athletes for greater challenges on the international stage, the East Africa Challenge reaffirms the burgeoning spirit of sports in the nation, fostering pride, unity, and a drive for excellence among its fighters.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" By Manas James Okony East Africa Challenge, a premier kickboxing event on the continent, concluded on Saturday in the South Sudanese capital, Juba. This year’s competition marked the third edition of the challenge, organized by the South Sudan Kickboxing Federation (SSKF) under the empowering theme, “The Road to Thailand.” The[Read More…]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":32824,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[80,79],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-32823","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-national","category-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/01\/Puro-Sank-Wizzy-and-Biko-scaled.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32823","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=32823"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32823\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":32825,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/32823\/revisions\/32825"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/32824"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=32823"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=32823"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.onecitizendaily.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=32823"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}