Boxers fare badly at World Championships

FREDERICK KEBADIRETSE
Staff Writer | Thursday April 29, 2010 00:00

On Monday, Oratile Kgalaeng lost 8-1 to Bulgaria's Zhanov Raykov, Dimpho Ramokoya was beaten 9-1 to Girulis Devidas of Lithuania while Botshelo Robi fell to Slovakia's Rajcsanyi Boleri. Botswana's only hope now lies with 17-year-old, Ofentse Kompone who was scheduled to fight Arien Lopez Cardona of Cuba in the 64kg category at the time of going to press yesterday.

The poor performance means the young pugilists have missed a chance to fight in the Youth Olympic Games scheduled for Singapore in August. The Azerbaijan event is the sole qualifiers for the Youth Olympic Games.

Botswana Boxing Association (BBA) development officer, Healer Modiradilo said the boys are on a learning curve and that is why they did not do well in Azerbaijan. The boxers are all national team debutants and therefore it was their first participation at international level. 

'We learnt that the competition was very tough. We wanted them to gain the necessary experience at that level so that they can be better prepared next time.

 They are very good boxers and I can assure you they will improve on their performance with time,' Modiradilo said.

Meanwhile the boxers who represented the country at the Zone VI tournament in South Africa won seven medals; four gold, a silver and two bronze.

The team finished second with 26 points, behind champions Namibia with 27 points while hosts South Africa came third. The BBA will stage another inter-club tournament in collaboration with the BDF Francistown Club at the Donga Military camp on Saturday.