'Hit Squad' coach impressed by gold exploits in Kinshasa tourney
Hit Squad's Elly Ajowi (left) spars with Hezron Maganga during their training session at Avfitness gym in Nairobi on November 9, 2020.
What you need to know:
- On whether Kenya should worry about the eye injury Christine Ongare picked, Musa said the Olympic-bound boxer should be fine after one week.
- The flyweight boxer was to face Munga Zalia (DR Congo) in the final, but got declared unfit to compete due to the injury on her left eye, which she sustained in her first bout against Burundian Ornella Havyarimana.
National boxing team (Hit Squad) head coach Benjamin Musa is delighted at Kenya bagging its first gold medal in years.
Elly Ajowi Ocholla won the Super Heavyweight title at the just-concluded Africa Zone 3 Championships in Kinshasa, DR Congo.
In an interview after the team of 16 boxers returned with 12 medals (one gold, five silver and six bronze) on Sunday, Musa noted that it felt so refreshing when Ajowi – considered the underdog – dispatched Cameroonian Maxime Yegnong Njieyo who was the undefeated heavyweight champion.
“We have lately missed gold twice in the final. Shaffi Bakari got injured before the final (against Mohamed Otukile from Botswana) at the 2019 African Games in Rabat, Morocco. Nick Okoth also picked an injury before the final (against Zambian Everisto Mulenga) at the 2020 African Boxing Olympic Qualification tournament in Dakar, Senegal. I’m happy we finally broke that jinx,” said Musa.
“I want us to carry on with that momentum.”
Musa said that they are happy with the team’s performance in Kinshasa where seven countries – Kenya, DR Congo, Cameroon, Libya, Congo Brazzaville, Mozambique and Burundi - competed.
“Considering we had no competition for nearly a year, the performance is better than what we expected.”
On the importance of the event to Hit Squad, Musa said they used the March 22-26 contest to gauge each boxer.
“It was a very gruelling tournament because of the round-robin format used. From the fights, we have been able to observe that some of our boxers need to improve on their power, others movement, work on speed, the bunch of punches per minute and even how to punch,” he observed.
Regarding further plans for the team ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Games, Musa revealed that they want to take part in at least two more tournaments.
“We are taking a one-week rest. We don’t want to undo the work have already done since the resumption of sport. We will want to continue with training after that rest. We also have a tournament lined up in Eindhoven, Holland in May. We want to do two events before going to the Olympics,” he said.
On whether Kenya should worry about the eye injury Christine Ongare picked, Musa said the Olympic-bound boxer should be fine after one week.
The flyweight boxer was to face Munga Zalia (DR Congo) in the final, but got declared unfit to compete due to the injury on her left eye, which she sustained in her first bout against Burundian Ornella Havyarimana.
“She was elbowed by the Burundian, but the doctor say she should be well in a week,” explained Musa, who was assisted by Maurice Mwangi, David Munuhe and Hassan Salim.
Roll of Honour
Hit Squad medal winners from Africa Zone 3 Tournament: Gold – Elly Ajowi, Silver – Christine Ongare, David Karanja, Nick Okoth (Captain), Boniface Mugunde, Joshua Wasike; Bronze – Stacy Ayoma, Elizabeth Akinyi, Elizabeth Andiego, George Cosby Ouma, Edwin Okongo, Hezron Maganga.
