Liz Andiego, after her match against Moroccan world champion Khadija Mardi who qualified for the Paris 2024 Olympics. Photo courtesy: AFBC Communications.
It’s back to the drawing board once again for Kenya’s national boxing team, after failing to secure a quota place in the African Paris 2024 Olympics Boxing Qualifiers in Dakar, Senegal despite a short training stint in Cuba.
Kenya’s last hope, Liz Andiego, proved no match for the more polished Moroccan world champion Khadija Mardi who qualified for the Paris Olympics slated for next year, July 26th to August 11th, with an easy but deserved unanimous points victory over Andiego in the middleweight final
The shorter Andiego started the fight at a first place aiming to keep Mardi busy and close but the Moroccan eased down the pressure, asserting her supremacy in the second round as she piled on points from a distance with neat jabs and occasional right crosses and right uppercuts delivered with clinical efficiency.
Unlike in her previous two fights in which Andiego put up a remarkable performance, this time around the 36-year-old Kenyan failed to find the range, doing shadow boxing for most of the three rounds. Andiego also had a point docked in the first round for not keeping her head up.
It was Mardi’s third consecutive win over Andiego who’s other alternative for Paris Olympics is through the two world qualifiers early next year, or through the Universality places – five reserved for women and four for men.
Respective National Olympic Committees will have to submit their requests to IOC stating why they want their athlete considered for one of the nine Universality places.
Story sourced from AFBC Communications
