BFT names 16 amateur boxers for All Africa Games
Amateur boxers compete during a past event. PHOTO | FILE
Dar es Salaam. The The Boxing Federation of Tanzania (BFT) has selected 16 amateur national team boxers for both the upcoming All Africa.
The All Africa Games are scheduled to take place in Accra, Ghana, from March 8 to 23.
BFT Secretary General Makore Mashaga said among the selected boxers, 11 are men and the rest are women. The boxers will be under the guidance of a team of five trainers, who will nurture their skills.
The male boxers include Abdulrazaq Hamisi Salum (48kg, light flyweight), Abdallah Mohamed Abdallah (51kg, flyweight), Azizi Chala (54kg, bantamweight), Mwalami Salum Mohamed (57kg, lightweight), and Ezra Paul (60 kg), who will compete in the lightweight.
Others are Hassani Mrutu, who competes in the 60kg lightweight category, Abdallah Mfaume, Joseph Kasi (71kg, middleweight); Mussa Wambura (86kg, heavyweight); Mhina Morice, and Alex Sita, who will compete in the over-92 kg category.
The female amateur boxers, according to Mashaga, are Miriam Maligisa (48kg, light flyweight), Zulfa Macho (52kg, flyweight), Vumilia Kalinga (57kg, lightweight), Leila Yazidu (60kg, lightweight), and Grace Mwakamele, competing in the 66 kg welterweight division.
The squad’s technical committee, led by Samuel Batman Kapungu as head coach, includes assistants Mzonge Hassan, Rogate Damiani, Muhsin Mohamed, and Makore Masaga, who is also the team manager. The amateur boxers are now at the residential training camp in Kibaha ahead of the multisport event.
“Our aim is to perform well in the All Africa Games as well as in the Olympic Games,” said Mashaga. However, so far, no amateur boxer has secured a qualifying mark for the Olympic Games.
Besides amateur boxing, Tanzania will also field teams in eight other sports during the 13th edition of the African Games, including athletics, cricket, swimming, cycling and beach volleyball.
