Ongare saves battered Kenyan boxers the blushes
Bronze medallists Kenya's Christine Ongare (left) and Australia's Taylah Robertson pose with their medals during the medal ceremony for the women's 51kg boxing event during the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games at the Oxenford Studios venue on the Gold Coast on April 14, 2018. PHOTO | ANTHONY WALLACE |
What you need to know:
- Kenya was represented by 10 boxers in Gold Coast - seven male and three female. For male pugilists, light flyweight Shaffi Bakari was the best performer as he lost to his Ugandan opponent, Juma Miro, in the quarter-finals on a split point decision 3-2.
- Judging from the Gold Coast results the standards of the game in the country are way down.
Christine Ongare became the first Kenyan to win a Commonwealth women’s boxing medal.
The flyweight boxer from Nairobi settled for a bronze at the Gold Coast Games on Friday.
Ongare sailed to the semi-finals when the referee stopped the contest after her opponent, Dulani Jayasinnhe of Sri Lanka, suffered an injury during their quarters.
However, in the semi-final, Ongare proved to be no match to Carly McNaul of Northern Ireland, who beat her on unanimous 5-0 points.
Kenya was represented by 10 boxers in Gold Coast - seven male and three female. For male pugilists, light flyweight Shaffi Bakari was the best performer as he lost to his Ugandan opponent, Juma Miro, in the quarter-finals on a split point decision 3-2.
Judging from the Gold Coast results the standards of the game in the country are way down. In fact, they have been on the decline since 1994 when Kenya won her last Commonwealth Games gold medals through light flyweight Abdulrahan Ramadhan and heavyweight Omar Ahmed Kasongo.
The rain started beating Boxing Association of Kenya (BAK) when they disregarded national events like novices, intermediate and Kenya National Championships.
It was from the novice’s level where the talented boxers were identified and their performances followed up to the next level, intermediate.
The winners at the intermediate level qualified to challenge established boxers during the Kenya National Championship.
