Okwiri hopeful as deflated Hit Squad returns home

The trouble-riddled Kenya’s Hit Squad returned from Cameroon last night following the Rio 2016 Olympics Qualifiers where Rayton Okwiri who was the sole fighter to punch his ticket to Brazil leading the chorus of condemnation over lack of support for the team.

Kenya, a force of days gone by in the sport, sent 13 boxers to Cameroon- 10 male and three female- and only Okwiri, 29, qualified for the Summer Games directly after winning gold in the 64kg welterweight division.

The boxers cut a figure of frustration as they landed at Nairobi’s Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) after most of their dreams were knocked out by farcical preparations.

Besides Okwiri, who beat Egyptian Walid Sedik Mohammed in the final, Peter Mungai who won bronze in the lightweight 49kg category is the only other Hit Squad member who made the last four in Cameroon with the final World Qualifiers in Baku, Azerbaijan in June the only window left for the rest of the team.

“I feel happy and really thank God for emerging the winner since I have been trying to qualify for two Olympics without success. I also thank the coaches who were with us at the camp and in training and also the players for their continued support.

“The only thing that saved me is that I was seeded last. They went first giving me the chance to observe and point out any weakness or mistakes they made and I used that to my advantage having seen different tactics in the ring,” Okwiri told Citizen Digital at JKIA.

The team’s preparations for Yaoundé were fraught by a bitter tussle between the Ministry of Sports, Culture and Arts and Boxing Association of Kenya (BAK) over funding the team that saw Government officials rush the money to the airport on departure day to facilitate the team.

“I believe good preparations for any Olympic games involve getting enough exposure. Personally the last tournament I fought was on June 2015. None of us had got any exposure; we have just been training locally.

“I would request the Government to help us in the remaining qualifiers and take boxers who didn’t qualify to Azerbaijan and see if they will make it,” Okwiri lamented.

Okwiri will be focusing on his speed over the remaining months before heading to the Rio 2016 Olympics.

“At the moment I feel strong and healthy although I need to work on my speed. With good exposure and training, nothing is impossible. No one knew I would win gold so it’s all about believing in one’s self,” the Kenya Prisons professional boxer emphasised.

“The tournament was tough, it was my hard work that got me to the level I lost, and I had trained hard, I know with the help of the coaches I still have a chance to qualify for Rio Olympics in the final world Olympic qualification tournament,” Mungai told.

The final qualifiers will take place in Baku from June 14 to 26 with the bronze winner adding, “I’m not afraid of fellow International boxers despite the fact that competition for the World qualifiers will be a tough one.”

Coach Patrick Maina cited biased officiating and lack of acclimatisation as the reason’s that impeded the Hit Squad from entering more fighters in the Olympics Games.

“The fighters gave their best but the judging did not make us satisfied at all. Also the fact that Cameroon is a very hot place and we had trained at home where we trained under cold weather and that could have affected the players although they later adjusted after the three days stay.

“If we are given the chance to train together, I am certain we will get more two or three fighters considering that the boxers on top have already qualified. If we get the chance World championship it would be good for Kenyans,” Maina stated.

Kenya was ranked in tenth position in the AIBA Olympic qualification event in Yaoundé Cameroon.

All the three Kenyan female pugilists lost to Morocco who took the entire quota available in flyweight, lightweight and middleweight divisions as nine other nations scrambled for the remaining men’s slots.

Cameroon registered two wins while Uganda that sent six boxers, qualified two for the Olympics.

Boxing is the only sport to outside athletics to win Kenya Olympic medals with the late Robert Wangila Nyapunyi making history as the first African fighter to bag gold at the Seoul 1988 Games in South Korea.

Report by Paul Kimani