Bosire, Munangwe lead Kenyan judokas to regional tourney

History-making Perister Bosire from Kenya Police and Kenya Defence Forces’ Kelvin Munangwe will lead the national judo team to the East and Central Africa Judo Championships slated from April 21 to 24 in Kampala.

The 30-year-old Bosire will be seeking to defend her regional title for the third consecutive time in women’s over 78kgs, with Munangwe also putting his regional crown on the line in men’s over 100kgs.

Bosire made history as the first Kenyan woman to win a continental title, a feat she achieved in Dakar, Senegal last year while Munangwe claimed a silver in men’s over 100kgs in Dakar, the best ever performance by a Kenyan man.

Kenya, who reclaimed the regional title last year after eight years at Amani Stadium, Zanzibar, will be represented by a squad of 30 judokas; 14 men and 16 women in Kampala’s 14th edition. 

The team leaves for the regional championships that has attracted 10 countries on Thursday this week.

Kenya, who fielded 15 judokas, recaptured the regional title when they collected 10 medals; six gold, three silver and one bronze.

Three countries, who missed out last year, will be joining the fray this time round; the Democratic Republic of Congo, South Sudan and Ethiopia.

Besides Kenya, the other countries making a return to the regional contest are Burundi, Tanzania Zanzibar, Uganda, Somalia, Eritrea and Djibouti.

“I have trained well and I thank God I have no worrying injuries. It’s all about sacrifices so as to perform well at top level,” said Bosire, who is among the judokas that have been in residential training at the Moi International Sports Centre for over a week.

Bosire indicated that she is working hard to polish her speed and power as she also prepares to defend her African title in May in Algiers, Algeria.

“After Uganda, my main target this year is to defend my African title and make my maiden appearance at the Commonwealth Games,” explained Bosire, who has already been given a direct ticket to the Commonwealth Games due for July 28 to August 8 in Birmingham, United Kingdom.

“It has been hard work since joining judo in 2017,” said Munangwe, who competed at the Africa event in 2019 but failed to reach the medal bracket. “Last year was a good year for me since after winning the regional title, I went on to claim silver at the Africa event, making history,” explained Munangwe, 31.

Besides Bosire and Munangwe, among those heading to Kampala to defend their titles are Johnson Kirimi (under 90kgs) and Dianah Kana (under 70kgs).

 “I am confident of a better performance now that we shall have a big team in Kampala. We want to thank the federation for putting us in camp and allowing more judokas to travel,” said head coach Isaac Kinyanjui.