2011 in review: Montsho,Oteng's best year

| Friday December 16, 2011 00:00

The series of 17 tournaments used as qualification for the national championship continued in different venues countrywide for the rest of the year. As part of the association's plan to take the sport to the people, tournaments were held at new venues including Kang and Mahalapye.

May - Botswana host the Zone IV Boxing championships after initial hosts Namibia pulls out at the eleventh hour.For a week, the Botswana College of Agriculture  (BCA) student hall is turned into a Mecca of Boxing as some of the finest pugilists from the region trade leather. Botswana was crowned champions after finishing top ahead of nine other nations. The team won eight medals, four gold, two silver and two bronzes. In addition, Botswana boxers win individual honours with Oteng named boxer of the tournament, while Bathusi Mogajane's bout was selected the best.

In the midst of a hectic schedule, BoBA holds its annual awards, which are in their second year running.  Oteng once again emerges the big winner bagging the coveted boxer of the year award. It proves to be a good year for the young pugilist who was named most promising boxer in the inaugural awards last year.

June - The Zone IV championships marks the beginning of a hectic schedule for the national team as they go on to compete in three international events in the next four months. A team of eight boxers left for Yaounde, Cameroon at the beginning of June to compete in the Africa Boxing Championship. The team however, did not put an impressive show in Africa by its high standards. They only managed to bring home five bronze medals.

August - The national team prepares for the All-Africa Games that Mozambique hosted in September. The team participates in a tri-nation tournament in Namibia that also included Zambia. After the tournament, they immediately leave for their final training camp in Port Louis, Mauritius.

September - The All-Africa Games start in Maputo, Mozambique. Boxing starts ahead of other codes as the boxers had to leave for the World Championships immediately after the games. Oteng grabs Botswana's first gold at the games beating a Cameroonian opponent in the 52kg flyweight. It was sweet revenge against the boxer who eliminated him in the quarterfinals of the Africa Boxing Championships two months earlier. The team wins three medals at the games with Mmoloki Nogeng settling for silver in the 60kg category,  while Gomotsang Gaasite won bronze in the 64kg. After the games, the team returns home shortly before departure for the World Boxing Championships in Baku, Azerbaijan.

All-Africa-GamesTeam Botswana had set itself a target of 20 medals after sending a contingent of 96 athletes from 12 sporting codes. The team was however, four medals short of their target. It was however, a displeasing performance as only four sport codes managed to win medals, with the other eight returning home empty handed. Boxing, athletics, karate and chess were the only codes that managed to bring home medals from the quadrennial event.Oteng was joined by world 400m champion Amantle Montsho in the gold medals table as the track queen successfully defended her Africa title in the 400m finals. Botswana finished 15th on the medals table out of 36 participating countries with two gold, five silver and nine bronze.

October - No boxer manages to proceed to the medal stages of the World Championships. The championships were used as the first qualifiers for the 2012 London summer Olympics and as a result, the boxers fail to get qualification to the global showpiece at first attempt, though there remains other chances to qualify.

November - Focus shifts back to local boxing as the inter-club tournaments come to an end with the national championships approaching. The semi-finals of the championships are postponed from their initial venue in Mahalapye as the association nails a sponsor at the last minute. A three-year sponsorship deal worth P450, 000 with long time partners Kgalagadi Breweries Limited (KBL) is announced. The semi-finals finally take place at the BCA hall where there are 32 bouts. The winners proceed to the finals that were staged in Ramotswa the following weekend. Once again Oteng is named boxer of the tournament, marking the end of a remarkable year for himStill in November, the association fails to hold its Ordinary General Meeting (OGM) as affiliates failed to make a forum.

December - The OGM finally takes place. A decision is made that the Best of the Best tournament, which was supposed to mark the end of BoBA calendar, be postponed to next year. According to the association's mouthpiece Willoughby Kemoen, the decision was done to enable the national team to prepare adequately for the Africa Olympic qualifiers to be staged in Morocco in April next year.

BridgeNovember - After being in hibernation for most part of the year, the Botswana Bridge Federation (BBF) came to life at the end of the year following the election of a new executive committee into office. They organised a media induction workshop as a way of improving coverage and popularise sport. An open tournament was held at the University of Botswana after receiving sponsorship of P10, 000 from Gaborone Container (GABCON) Terminal. After the tournament, players were selected to compete at the Knysna teams tournament in South Africa.

CyclingJune - Local and regional cyclists convene in Kopong in the Kweneng district for the Kopong Annual Cobra Classic annual event. There are two main events, the 60km road race and the 90km mountain bike races that were both won by Gaborone Cycling Club 's(GCC) cyclist Angus Boxshall-Smith. The race, organised by GCC saw a tremendous growth in the number of cyclists participating. This year more than 150 cyclists registered for the event. Cyclists also used it to prepare for the annual Subaru Kalahari Cycling Challenge.

July - The sport's headline event of the year, the Subaru Kalahari Challenge takes place. This is the sixth edition of the race. The event had earlier faced some hiccups as main sponsor Subaru South Africa pulled out. Subaru Botswana however, assured their commitment and the race went ahead. The 200km endurance event also organised by GCC this year saw the arrival of Botswana Tourism Organisation (BTO) as a partner. The event continues to grow this year registering 150 teams (300 riders) with some coming from as far as the Isle of Man and Malta. Last year's winners Safari Simbas from Kenya went on to defend their title

Motorsport

June - The annual Mascom Toyota 1000km Desert race under the Absa Off-Road Championship is again the highlight of the year. This year the race returned to its usual date in winter (June) after being rescheduled last year. For the second year running the race starts and ends in Kumakwane, making the village lively again. In the Motor Vehicle section, Toyota was under pressure to win as the sponsor following 12 years of heartbreak. With Toyota having been in the lead for over three quarters of the race, spectators could not believe their eyes when a special category BAT Spec Four came roaring to the finish line. Meanwhile crowd favourite Hannes Grobler could not finish this year's race with his factory BMW X3 after winning the race with the same vehicle last year.