The Olympic qualifying games currently under way in Baku, Azerbaijan are proving a rocky route to Rio after six boxers of the seven members of the SA boxing team crashed out in the preliminary stages.
Only Sibusiso Bandla is still in the running after he won his first round bout in the 49kg light flyweight division.
Bandla from Mdantsane will be in action today but at the time of going to press his opponent had not been decided.
The championships are the last leg to qualify for Rio but SA boxers are finding them tough with even medal hope Sikho Nqothole of Mthatha bowing out in the first round.
Nqothole and Bandla thought they had qualified for the Olympics after winning gold and bronze medals respectively in Cameroon only for their qualification to be downgraded by Sascoc.
Their downgrading left Bandla so devastated it had to take some doing by his family and SA National Amateur Boxing Organisation (Sanabo) representatives to persuade him to go to Baku.
Smarting from the move by Sascoc, Sanabo sent a strong seven-team member at Baku to maximise its prospects of representing the country in Rio.
But Azerbaijan event proved highly competitive with several top boxers from well-known countries crashing out.
Nqothole, who campaigns in the flyweight division, went down by a solitary point to Guatamala’s Eddie Barillas Valenzuela in a highly charged bout.
Other boxers who crashed included Mdantsane’s Luvuyo Sizani who lost to Hassan Saada of Mauritius in the light-heavyweight division.
Sanabo president Andile Mofu refused to blame the SA team’s lack of preparation, saying European qualifiers were always a tough event.
“Instead we should be proud by our boxers’ performance there because in most bouts they lost by a solitary point,” he said.
Other countries whose boxers were eliminated in the first round include the Philippines, renowned for producing fine fighters in the lighter divisions.
In all previous Olympic qualifications SA boxers secured Olympic berths via the African continent.
But Sascoc refused to recognise qualification through Africa saying the criteria was agreed by all federations to increase the quality of SA Olympic Team.
The Baku championships started last Thursday and will conclude on Saturday.
Baku proving a bridge too far for Rio hopes
Only Sibusiso Bandla is still in the running after he won his first round bout in the 49kg light flyweight division.
Bandla from Mdantsane will be in action today but at the time of going to press his opponent had not been decided.
The championships are the last leg to qualify for Rio but SA boxers are finding them tough with even medal hope Sikho Nqothole of Mthatha bowing out in the first round.
Nqothole and Bandla thought they had qualified for the Olympics after winning gold and bronze medals respectively in Cameroon only for their qualification to be downgraded by Sascoc.
Their downgrading left Bandla so devastated it had to take some doing by his family and SA National Amateur Boxing Organisation (Sanabo) representatives to persuade him to go to Baku.
Smarting from the move by Sascoc, Sanabo sent a strong seven-team member at Baku to maximise its prospects of representing the country in Rio.
But Azerbaijan event proved highly competitive with several top boxers from well-known countries crashing out.
Nqothole, who campaigns in the flyweight division, went down by a solitary point to Guatamala’s Eddie Barillas Valenzuela in a highly charged bout.
Other boxers who crashed included Mdantsane’s Luvuyo Sizani who lost to Hassan Saada of Mauritius in the light-heavyweight division.
Sanabo president Andile Mofu refused to blame the SA team’s lack of preparation, saying European qualifiers were always a tough event.
“Instead we should be proud by our boxers’ performance there because in most bouts they lost by a solitary point,” he said.
Other countries whose boxers were eliminated in the first round include the Philippines, renowned for producing fine fighters in the lighter divisions.
In all previous Olympic qualifications SA boxers secured Olympic berths via the African continent.
But Sascoc refused to recognise qualification through Africa saying the criteria was agreed by all federations to increase the quality of SA Olympic Team.
The Baku championships started last Thursday and will conclude on Saturday.
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