29 Mar 2023

Botswana’s poor performance at the just ended International Boxing Association (IBA) Women’s World Boxing Championship in India has been attributed to lack of proper preparations.

A team of three pugilists arrived home on Tuesday empty handed.

Two boxers lost in the opening stage with Phekie Belle losing against Caroli Lulia of Moldova by a split decision, Aratwa Kesemang lost 0-5 to Ivanusa Moreira of Cape Verde.

However Lethabo Modukanele won her first bout 5-0 against Duwal Amita of Nepal, but the scale tilted for the Commonwealth bronze medalist in the second bout as she lost 0-5 to Vietnamese, Nguyen Thi Tam.

In an interview, coach Thebe Setlalekgosi, said the boxer had about six month without any competition, adding he had long advocated for a local camp as an alternative in the absence of competitions.

“We met at the airport without preparing for the competition, but I am proud of the team. They gave their best despite not prepared, they impressed everybody including IBA, with their performance,” he said.

Setlalekgosi said had the athletes trained at least locally they could had come back with better results or at least a quarterfinal finish.

For her part, team captain, Modukanele said they did not prepare properly for the championship, adding that normally they would camp and compete in friendly games, but this time it did not happen. 

“The championships are bigger than the Olympics and expectation were that we would prepare well and come back with good results,” she said. Furthermore, Modukanele said she was proud of the team because it showed a lot of commitment and resilience.

“On my personal performance, generally I am happy, I saw growth in myself, but results were not good for Team Botswana, and I hope that our leaders will realise that we need more,” Modukanele said. ENDS