Seven athletes qualify for Commonwealth Games in UK
Tanzania’s light middleweight amateur boxer, Kassim Mbudwike, poses after competing in the Africa Championships in Dakar. Mbudwike is among three amateur boxers selected to form Tanzania’s Commonwealth Games squad ahead of the Birmingham Games. PHOTO | COURTESY
What you need to know:
- After the final selection, all athletes will undergo residential training to be financed by the government. This is a milestone for sports development in the country, where sports leaders normally struggle to facilitate training camps.
Dar es Salaam. Seven athletes have so far been selected to represent Tanzania in the Commonwealth Games scheduled to take place in Birmingham, the United Kingdom from July 28 to August 8.
The number has been reached following the selection of three amateur boxing who meet the selection criteria, according to Boxing Federation of Tanzania (BFT) acting secretary general Mohammed Abubakari.
The boxers are Alex Isendi, who will contest in the welterweight, Kassimu Mbudwike in the light middle weight and Yusuph Changarawe in the light heavyweight.
The trio join two swimmers and two judokas who have also met the qualification criteria.
The athletes are Kayla Temba and Collins Saliboko who will represent the country in swimming and judokas namely Thomas Mwenda and Abdulrabi Abdullah.
Kayla and Collins met the criteria set by the Tanzania Olympic Committee while Mwenda and Abdullah won gold medals in the East Africa Judo championship held recently in Kampala, Uganda.
Only runners to represent the country are yet to be known as they are still in training camp.
Tanzania is expected to send 29 athletes to the Commonwealth Games this year. That number includes athletes and officials who will accompany them.
As per the Games organizing committee, nine athletes (six men, three women) will be required to represent the country in the Games.
After the final selection, all athletes will undergo residential training to be financed by the government. This is a milestone for sports development in the country, where sports leaders normally struggle to facilitate training camps.
The Secretary General of the National Sports Council (NSC), Neema Msitha, told The Citizen that the government will fund the camps to enable the athletes to prepare well for the Games.
Msitha said the camp would be made up of sportsmen and women, coaches, physicians and some officials as per the technical procedures.
“Our aim is to see to it that the country performs well in the multi-sport, quadrennial Games - and I hereby call upon our sportsmen and women to train hard in order to win and bring home medals for the country and its people,” Msitha insisted.
