Kenyan boxers confident ahead of qualifiers

Kenya's Christine Ongare (left) in action against Priyanka Dhillon of Canada. [File]

As six Kenyan players and fours officials jetted out for the second leg of World Olympic qualifiers in Thailand last evening, hopes are high that they will bag the evasive ticket.

Despite being the final qualifiers, boxers said they are in good shape ahead of the vital championships.

“We now leave it to God,” they said.

“We have had good training sessions with different exposures to ensure we get a few qualifiers for the Paris Olympics. We’ll do our best but above all, we leave everything to God," said 2018 Commonwealth Games flyweight bronze medallist Christine Ongare who also featured in the first leg of the qualifiers in Italy.

The qualifiers commence on Friday and end on June 2 in Bangkok, Thailand.

All Africa Games middleweight gold medallist Edwin Okong’o, who missed the first leg of the qualifiers, was confident of replicating his performance at the continental games in the global showpiece.

“After a good show in Accra, Ghana, it’s time to have a repeat of the same performance in Bangkok. It will not be easy, but we’ll give our best,” said Okong’o.

Team captain Elizabeth Andiego, who’s still basking in the glory of winning a gold medal at the inaugural Nelson Mandela Cup Championships, said she’ll also be carrying the same form to the qualifiers.

“The Durban championships was an eye opener, which has to be replicated in Thailand. These qualifiers are important to me because they might help me make it to the Olympic Games for a third time,” said Andiego.

Deputy captain and Africa Championships light middleweight bronze medallist Boniface Mogunde said their desire is to snatch few tickets for Olympics this time round.

Bantamweight Amina Martha said they had worked on their strengths and they now hope to post good results and improve on their international ratings.