KENYAN boxers are oozing confidence that they will be able to secure at least six of the 48 tickets up for grabs at the Boxing AIBA African Olympic qualification tournament in Casablanca, Morocco.The tournament set for April 27 to May 6, will be the final in the continent as Kenya seeks to improve on the five slots it got in the build up to the Beijing Olympics in 2008. Patrick Waweru, Kenya’s head coach, said on Tuesday the country’s boxers have proved their ability to win qualification and will not be surprised if more than six get the nod in Morocco.Only boxing and swimming alongside track and field have the realistic chance of securing Kenya medals in London Olympics in July. “Our boxers are ready for the challenge. We have a mix of experienced and greenhorn pugilists in camp in Mombasa. They are all confident, to prevail in the qualifiers in Morocco. But that is easy said than done. It is important that we go beyond the five tickets we got for Beijing Olympics,” Waweru, a former Kenyan international who won gold at the 1987 All Africa Games in lightweight, told reporters.Kenya qualified five boxers for the Olympic boxing tournament with Suleiman Bilali being the only one to qualify at the first African qualifying event. The other four boxers all earned spots at the Africa Olympic qualifying tournament. In addition, welterweight boxer Nickson Abaka qualified for the Olympics, but missed the event due to injury“We never won anything in Beijing. But that does not mean that we will not do so in London. We still have the small task of qualifying and there are new rules and regulations that my boxers need to be exposed to if they are to prevail. We have done that and am certain they will do well,” said Waweru.To champion Kenya’s boxing onslaught are veteran Aziz Ali, the only candidate from the team that was in Beijing Olympics Games, Daniel Shisia (heavyweight) and Rayton Okwiri (welter weight). Aziz said the team is ready to go as they have acclimatized with the Coast weather, which is similar to that of Morocco. “We have earned more experience since we took part in the last Olympics. But I have to add that it has been the same with our opponents. So the important thing is how to secure the qualification and then we will talk of medals when we get there,” said Aziz.Africa has a quota of 52 boxers in the men’s category. However, Algerian boxers have already qualified for some of the slots, leaving Morocco qualifiers in April with 48 places to be occupied. In Beijing Kenya sent a total squad of 28 men and 18 women in five disciplines athletics (36), Rowing (one), swimming (two), taekwondo (two) and boxing (five). The country got 14 medals - six gold, four silver four bronze and finished as the most successful African country in the Beijing Olympics15th place in the overall country standings.
