Team of six to lead Hit Squad in do-or-die Olympic Qualifiers in Bangkok

Six boxers will represent the country in the 2nd World Olympic Qualification Tournament in Bangkok, Thailand on 25 May - 2 June 2024.

This is the second time a bunch of Kenyan boxers will jet out of the country in search of valuable slots in this year’s Summer Games after failing to do it in Busto Arzizio, Italy in March.

So far no Kenyan boxer has made the cut, and this will be the final chance to do so.

Highlighting the team will be team captains Elizabeth Andiego and Boniface Mugunde, who will lead the squad for the third time in the qualifying window having been in Italy and Dakar, Senegal last year.

A notable nod has been made for African Games gold medalist Edwin Okong’o, who makes the team following his recent form that saw him become the first man to win the continental gong since Suleiman Bilali did it in 2007.

Another beneficiary of proper form is national bantamweight champion Amina Martha, who is back to the fold having made history this year.

At the African Games in Ghana, Martha became the first Kenyan female boxer to medal at the African Games after clinching bronze.

Friza Anyango, the only Kenyan to win a bout in the aforementioned 1st World Olympic Qualifiers in Busto Arzizio, also gets into the team with a chance to go deeper in the tournament.

Completing the men’s team is heavyweight Peter Abuti, who made the team to the African Games this year but suffered a first-round points loss to Nigeria’s Olaitan Olaore.

In total, 18 boxers were in non-residential camp at Mathare Police Depot, and the main casualty of the Boxing Federation of Kenya selection process is flyweight champion Christine Ongare, whose hopes of making back-to-back Olympic Games appearances has been dashed.

Featherweight Shaffi Bakari also misses out, having underwhelmed in Italy.

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TEAM

MEN: Boniface Mugunde (light middleweight), Edwin Okong’o (Light heavyweight), Peter Abuti (Heavyweight)

WOMEN: Elizabeth Andiego (Middleweight), Friza Anyango (Welterweight), Amina Martha (Bantamweight).