By SANDRA MWILA –
ZAMBIA Amateur Boxing Federation (ZABF) president Thomas Chileshe has expressed confidence that the eight boxers picked to represent the country at the Africa Youth Games in Botswana will win medals.
Chileshe said in an interview yesterday that the federation was expecting the best from the eight Under-20 national team boxers currently in camp at the Olympic Youth Development Centre (OYDC) in Lusaka.
He said the boxers had undergone adequate training and was confident of Zambia winning medals at the Africa Youth Games to be held in May.
The boxers picked for the competition are Alfred Muwowo, Julian Kasonka, Peter Ng’oma, Burton Mukonka, Timothy Chiyesu and Rabson Tembo, while Melody Nyirongo and Lillian Kasiya are the two female boxers.
“I am expecting a good performance from the boxers especially Muwowo and Kasonka who have exhibited some good fighting skills but overall, I expect all the boxers to do us proud at the competition,” he said.
Chileshe said the team that has been picked was final and the onus would be on the boxers to prove their worth by winning medals.
And team coach Maybin Gunduzani said the team was responding well to the intensive training programme that has been designed to ensure they remained in good shape for the competition.
“We are not going to the Africa Youth Games as mere participants or tourists but we would be going there to compete for medals and also ensure that our boxers earn qualification for the Youth Olympics Games,” he said.
Gunduzani said he would love the boxers to fight in a tournament apart from just camping to help them fine turn for the competition.
Meanwhile, Chileshe said ZABF was mobilising funds to camp the senior boxers ahead of the Glasgow 2014 Commonwealth Games slated for Scotland from July to August.