Inter-Club Tourney is on tomorrow

MOGOMOTSI MOLOI
Correspondent | Friday February 22, 2008 00:00

 

The 11th hour cancellation was prompted by a communication breakdown between BABA and the hosts, Glen Valley Barracks. But BABA spokesperson Willow Kemoen assured yesterday that 'everything is now in place' and the tournament would go on. He apologised to the boxing fraternity for last weekend's inconvenience.

'As BABA, we regret what happened last week and we are very sorry for that. It was a very unfortunate occurrence but this time everything should be in order,' Kemoen said.    

'We hope that everything will go on as planned and we are not expecting any problem this time around,' he added. He indicated that though they were still awaiting confirmation from clubs, he was confident that they would attend. At least 14 clubs are expected to participate.

University of Botswana Boxing Club, Francistown and SSKB are usually well represented when it comes to club tournaments. There is every likelihood that these clubs will dominate the show once again tomorrow.

Kemoen told Mmegi Sport that this tournament comes at an opportune time when the senior national team is doing the final touches ahead of the last Africa Olympic qualifiers billed for Windhoek,Namibia. The boxers leave for Namibia on Monday. The national team comprises Zone V1 best boxer Thato Batshegi (57Kg), BABA Boxer of the Year Herbert Nkabiti (64Kg), enterprising young boxer Thapelo Zuze (54Kg), Kgomotso Bok (51Kg), Gomotsang Gaasite (54Kg) and Moabi Mothiba (59Kg). Since joining boxing a few years ago, Bok and Zuze have made headlines for knocking out renowned boxers.

The Inter-Club Tournament is expected to give the boxers the necessary training and gauge their fitness against those that are not in the national team. 'We are expecting to see entertaining bouts this weekend especially from national team stars.

Those who are not in the national team will be fighting to prove their mettle while national boxers will be striving to maintain their status,' said Kemoen.

He added that a number of boxers would impress in the Inter-Club Tournament considering the tough competition that has been experienced of late in the boxing rings. He pointed out that it would be good for national team boxers to win their bouts tomorrow so that they go to the Olympic qualifiers with high morale.   

The BABA spokesperson said that they have always wished to have a sponsor for such tournaments but without much success.

He said that it was going to be motivating to have a sponsor financing boxing but it was not easy to get one. BABA has only one sponsor, Botswana Breweries Limited (BBL) through Keone Mooka Mageu brand. 'It is not that we are doing nothing, efforts are always made to scout for sponsorship but it is tough,' lamented Kemoen.

Meanwhile, as a result of failure to secure funds from the Botswana National Sports Council (BNSC), Re Ba Bona Ha programme, which was supposed to be launched this weekend, has been cancelled. Kemoen explained that BABA was ready to stage the launch but were disappointed to learn on Wednesday that BNSC did not have enough funds for the programme.