Mogomotsi Moloi
1 April 2008
Officials who accompanied boxers to the just-ended second Africa Olympic qualifiers in Windhoek, Namibia have said Botswana pugilists were out of their depths in the tournament.
Speaking at a welcome reception for the national team at Yarona Lodge last Sunday, Botswana Boxing Association (BoBA) officials said the competition was very tough. BoBA technical director, Leo Viciedo Domeguez said that with boxers from countries like Tunisia, Morocco, South Africa, Egypt and Kenya in action, Botswana pugilists were outclassed and had very little chance of qualification. He told Mmegi Sport that realistically, they pinned their hopes on Herbert Nkabiti (54kg), Thato 'Hands of Stone' Batshegi and Ikgopoleng to qualify. But Nkabiti was outclassed in the early stages of the qualifiers by a superior opponent. "Unfortunately Nkabiti had a bad day. He was fighting a very strong boxer and his opponent had an upper hand in the bout," explained the Cuban. He stated that the defeat should not be taken as a disappointment but a lesson.
He added that debutant Kgomotso Bok (51kg) and Bathusi Mogajane (48kg) were pitted against tournament favourites from Madagascar. The same boxer who beat Bok won gold medal, said Domeguez. He added that Moabi Mothiba (69kg) could have won his fight if he was aggressive.
However, the BoBA technical director expressed satisfaction that his charges performed better than other countries in the zone. "Though we had a single boxer qualifying in Namibia, we did better than other regional countries that sent more boxers," he said.
He recommended that Zone VI countries should work together to improve the level of boxing in the region. He called for more international build-up matches before tournaments; systematic training of the national team and improvement of coaching at club level.
Out of the six-man team that went to Namibia, only Batshegi (57kg) qualified for the Olympics scheduled for Beijing, China, in August. He joins Khumiso Ikgopoleng (54kg) who sailed through at the first tournament in Algeria.
BoBA vice president in charge of administration, Charles Nkele said at Yarona Lodge that though the competition was tough in Namibia, their trip was good despite the fact that five of the six boxers fared badly. "The competition was very tough for obvious reasons. Countries were out there to compete for the limited remaining (Olympic) slots for Africa and it was not easy for us," admitted Nkele.
He said 28 countries sent 148 boxers to compete for only 29 slots and the Botswana team could not cope with the tough competition. He was however impressed by the general performance of Botswana boxers. He praised Batshegi for a job well done and promised that BoBA would continue supporting all the boxers. He dismissed claims by some boxers who said they lost in Namibia because of the complicated newly introduced judging system.
BoBA president Aldren Tayane encouraged those who lost in Namibia not to lose hope, saying there is always next time. He said what Batshegi did should be celebrated by all. "For those who have lost, this is not the end of the world. You still have a chance to do more for this country since most of you are favoured by age," asserted the BoBA president.
The man of the moment, Batshegi was over the moon. "I have long wanted to compete at the Olympics and this is really a dream come true," said he 20-year-old. He brought home a silver medal after beating opponents from Democratic Republic of Congo and South Africa.
The Moshupa-born boxer said he was glad that he triumphed in a tough competition. He indicated that his aim was not to win gold but book a ticket to the Olympics. He thanked his teammates for rallying behind him after losing their bouts. Batshegi promised to work hard in preparations for the Olympics.
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