Botswana's hopes rekindled in India

FREDERICK KEBADIRETSE
Staff Writer | Friday October 8, 2010 00:00

First to taste victory for the locals was light welterweight boxer, Gomotsang Gaasite as he saw off his opponent in round one of his bout at the Talkatora Indoor Stadium on Tuesday.

The win was seemingly what the doctor ordered as on Wednesday, four athletes qualified from their heats with impressive results.

African 400m champion, Amantle Montsho easily won her heat to qualify for the semi-finals in a timely 51.76 seconds.

Another 400m runner, Kgalalelo Sefo qualified for the semi-finals after coming second in her heat with a time of 54.12 seconds. Both athletes were in action in the semi-finals yesterday.

Boxers continued with their 100 percent record when captain Mmoloki Nogeng beat his opponent from Sierra Leone, Lansana Sahid 12-1 in the lightweight category. Welterweight, Moabi Mothiba followed suit defeating Mahamed Azumah of Malaysia 11-2.

The lawn bowls team finally came to the party as the men's trips of Boitumelo Mosinyi, Newman Motshidisi and Kitso Robert defeated Norfolk Island 2-0.

The women pairs of Tirelo Buckley and Obopile Mosimanyana followed suit defeating the same opponents with an identical score. The two wins came as a great relief for the bowls team, which had a rude awakening on the first two days of the competition losing all their matches.

Meanwhile, Bathusi Mogajane (48kg) and Oteng Oteng (52kg) were in the ring for the first time at the games yesterday when Gaasite was scheduled to take on Indian Manoj Kumar.

A lot is expected from the boxing team, arguably the most experienced squad Botswana sent to the games. The team has competed and won medals in the Zone Six Championships, African Championships, Commonwealth Championships and the World Championships. Botswana is targeting eight medals at the Commonwealth Games.