BoBA assembles team for African champs
The Botswana national boxing team is currently on camp in preparation for the All Africa championship starting from 25th May until 6th June in the DR Congo. The team is expected to do well among the 16 African nations that will be competing at the continental showpiece. Botswana secured 4th position in the last championships. There are currently nine athletes in camp at the national stadium.
The athletes include Otukile Mahomed (52kg), George Molwantwa (56kg), Tefo Maitewa (56), Molalapata (60kg), Moabi Ngaka (60kg), Kabo Seitshiro (64kg), Boifang Kenaope (64kg), Mmusi Tswiige (69kg) and African games silver medallist Zibane Chikanda.
Botswana Boxing Association (BoBA) spokesperson Kenny Maragana said this week that some elite athletes like Atang Mosenke and Kagiso Bagwasi could not make it to camp. Bagwasi suffered a knife attack while Mosenke was injured during the recent interclub tournament held at SSKB.
“The final team will be revealed later, as all athletes on camp will not make it. The final number of athletes heading for DRC will be revealed after training camp,” Maragana said.
“We will consider the performance of athletes on camp and our budget before we decide who makes it in the team”. Nevertheless, Maragana said for the first time they failed to honour the crucial Zone 4 games that were held in Angola late last year even though they are defending champions.
“Even though we missed out on Zone 4 championships we came with a contingency plan where we pitted our best athletes against one another in preparation for the African championship.”
Maragana said they have not set a medal target, as they are yet to choose the final team. “We expect fierce competition during the games,” he said.
The dominant forces in the African showpiece remain North African states like Algeria, Morocco and Egypt. The team is under the tutelage of Tsholofelo boxing coach Lechedzani ‘Master’ Luza.
Emmanuel Galeboe and Junior Moeti will be assisting Luza while Gibson Rauwe is the team manager. The team leaves for DRC on 25th May and returns on 6th June.
