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Kenya: Last Chance to Hit Olympics Mark
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The East African Standard (Nairobi)
31 January 2008
Posted to the web 30 January 2008
Samson Ateka
Nairobi
Kenyan boxers have another chance in Windhoek, Namibia, to qualify for the Beijing Olympics.
Out of four boxers Kenya fielded at the first African qualifiers, only Suleiman Bialli (l/fly) of Police managed to book a ticket to the Beijing Games at the ongoing AIBA African Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Algiers, Algeria, on Tuesday.
Three other Kenyans Rayton Okwiri (l/welter) and David Munyasia (feather) and Daniel Shisia (middle) missed the Games and have to cool their heels at home hoping that they will make the Kenya team at the final Olympic qualifiers in Windhoek in March.
Bilali steps onto the ring on Thursday to fight Namibian Uutoni Jafet in the gold medal match. The gold medal match is a mere formality as both finalists have secured Beijing slots. But Bilali said he will treat the match seriously.
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Speaking to SportFest over telephone from Algiers, Bilali said he would be under little pressure as opposed to the preliminaries when a qualification slot was on his mind.
"It doesn't mean that I should take it easy because the journey to Beijing has just started and the match is a good build up for my course," Bilali said. Bilali, a half brother, to Los Angeles Olympics bronze medalist Ibrahim "Surf" Bilali, is at pains to perform at the Summer Games after missing out in Athens in 2004 with a nagging injury.
He was at it in the 2000 Sydney Olympics when he lost 10-11 to eventual light-flyweight gold medalist Spaniard Lozano Munoz in a hotly contested quarterfinal.
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