A squad of 27 boxers has been named by the National Boxing Federation of Kenya (BFK) ahead of the Africa 2020 Olympic Games qualifiers.
The 27-member team consisting of 17 male and 10 female boxers will be whittled down to 13 who will depart for the continental qualifiers set for 17th February -1st March in Dakar Senegal.
From the squad of 27 only 13; 8 men and 5 female boxers across 13 weight categories will make the Dakar trip as Kenya seeks to qualify a larger number than three who participated at the previous edition of the Olympic Games in Rio.
Among those who will be gunning for a ticket to Tokyo is Rayton Okwiri who will be returning to do duty for the country after a stint in paid ranks.
Okwiri is hoping to return to the Olympics for the second time after his 2016 debut.
The female entry is headlined by Elizabeth Andiego also eyeing her second and last appearance at the Olympic Games.
The team is expected to start their preparations in earnest with further training camp planned for Nanyuki before the team departs for the qualifiers.
The squad will be under the guidance of head coach Musa Benjamin who hinted that the competition for slots is expected to be a stiff following revision of male weight categories by the IOC.
Kenya hasn’t won a boxing medal at the Olympic Games since the introduction of the quota system of qualification after the 1988 games.
–kbc.co.ke
