Kenyan boxers set for India Open in Commonwealth warm-up

The Kenya national boxing team will use the January 28 India Open Boxing tournament to gauge their level of preparedness ahead of the 2018 Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia.

A team of 24 is in camp – 20 male and 4 females – has convened at the Ruaraka Grounds for coordination training with officials set to trim the squad to 14 at the end of camp.

All four females are guaranteed of slots for the three-day inaugural tournament that will be held in the capital Delhi while the other ten places will be filled by a selected group of males.

“We are already on with the preparation for the tournament which will help us make changes for the Commonwealth Games.

“We are grateful for this chance because it’s a good platform for my players to be exposed and let their strengths and flaws be seen by the technical bench before April,’’ head coach Patrick Maina told Citizen Digital.

Maina added he has identified 2010 Commonwealth silver medalist Benson Gicharu, Nick Okoth (bronze medalist), Nickson Abak and Shaffy Bakari as heavy favourites to make the cut in the 10 places allocated for the males.

The official has urged local fans to rally behind the team as they seek a better outing in Australia having bagged just one medal at the previous edition in Scotland.