Hit Squad pugilist Christine Ongare will be in the spotlight as she takes another stab at gold during next month’s Africa Zone 3 Championship in Kinshasa, Congo.
The minimumweight boxer said a nasty injury she incurred last year denied her a glorious opportunity of having the national anthem played in her honour after she failed to strut to the winner’s podium.
“I narrowly missed out on gold due to the injury and I’m determined to compensate for the loss in April,” Ongare said.
The skillful and hard-battling diminutive boxer who traces her roots in the sprawling Kariobangi slums in Nairobi says she is now determined more than ever before to hoist the country’s flag high.
Ongare has been punching furiously on the bag with the rest of the Hit Squad members who were summoned for a non-residential training camp in mid-February
“This is our third week in training and we have been involved in high-intensity sessions since we arrived,” Ongare said.
She holds on to the conviction that the wealth of experience she gleaned from the 2020 Tokyo Games will power her to the winner’s podium in Kinshasa come April.
She put up a spirited fight to clinch bronze in last year’s edition of the games which were held in Kinshasa, Congo.
“Personally, I’m determined to give the Africa Zone 3 Championship my best shot because I believe it will impact a lot on my performance in the subsequent international assignments including the Commonwealth Games.”
Ongare is set to spearhead Kenya’s medal hunt at the forthcoming World Women’s Boxing Championships in Istanbul, Turkey later in May, exactly two months before she can train her sights on the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games.
“I’m definitely looking forward to a good time in Birmingham.
The 2018 Commonwealth Games bronze medalist Christine Ongare says she feels more comfortable battling in the minimum weight category which has taken away all the adversities she encountered in the light flyweight division.
She says the switch is bound to boost her fortunes in the sport even as she eyes a vintage performance at the forthcoming AIBA World Women’s Boxing Championship primed for May in Istanbul, Turkey.
“To say the truth, I experienced a lot of challenges while battling in the flyweight division. It was hard squaring off with some boxers who switched from bantamweight given they were comparatively more muscular and a little bit stronger than me,” she said.
“I’m happy I’ll be facing my equals from now on after switching to the minimum weight division,” she added.
The pugilist, who plies her trade for Kenya Police on the local front, says she had been busy sharpening her claws at Kariobangi Social Hall gymnasium before.
–the-star.co.ke
