Sixteen members of the Hit Squad will jet out on Sunday morning for the Africa Zone 3 Championship scheduled for March 20 in the Democratic Republic of Congo after failing to travel today.
The boxers have been in camp since late last year after the government allowed national teams to prepare for international assignments following months of inactivity due to Covid-19 outbreak.
The squad got a shot in the arm on Friday after the Tokyo Olympics boxing taskforce gave qualifications berths to Elly Ajowi (heavyweight) and Elizabeth Akinyi (middleweight) after ranking them above their competitors.
It therefore follows that Kenya will now be represented by four pugilists at the Tokyo Olympics set for July.
The squad had initially hoped to attain more slots in the Olympics at the world repechage qualifiers in France but the event was called off after the Tokyo Olympics organising committee admitted it was pressed for time to accommodate any further qualifiers.
BFK president Anthony Ombok says they’ll use the DRC tournament to gauge the team’s preparedness for Tokyo Games .
“This tournament is crucial because we haven’t been in the ring since the qualifiers due to the Covid-19 pandemic and I can’t emphasise enough how important it is for boxers to be engaged in a competitive environment as part of preparations for the Olympic games,” said Ombok.
Boxing Federation of Kenya assigned two more coaches a week ago to help the squad charge for more medals in the DRC.
The two, Hassan Salim of Kibera Boxing Club and Maurice Maina of Kenya Prisons linked up with the existing technical bench comprising head coach Musa Benjamin, assistant Dave Munuhe, Patrick Waweru and strength and conditioning coach Geoffrey Kimani to complete the coaching unit.
