Commonwealth Games light-heavyweight bronze medallist Yusuf Changalawe is among the 22 boxers selected to represent Tanzania in Zone 3 Championships scheduled for Dar es Salaam from April 18-22.
Boxing Federation of Tanzania secretary-general Makore Mashaga said the 22 boxers – 16 men and 6 women – were selected after the trials held on March 5 at their training camp in JKT Mgulani.
“We’ve selected the best, the team will continue training at JKT Mgulani which has all the facilities we need,” said Mashaga.
Changalawe, who won light-heavyweight bronze at the 2022 Commonwealth Games in Birmingham, is with Nizza Abdalahamani in the light-heavyweight berth.
Light-middleweight Kassim Mbundkiwe, who also won a bronze medal in Birmingham, is the surprise omission in the team. Mashaga did not explain why Mbundkiwe is not in the team.
Tanzania’s two representatives in the World Championships in India, minimumweight Rahma Maganga and lightweight Beatrice Ambrose (pictured), are among the six women in the team.
So far six countries, Kenya, DRC, Somalia, Cameroon, DRC, Burundi and Equatorial Guinea have confirmed they’ll be in Dar es Salaam for the zonal tournament to be used by the participants as a build-up for major championships ahead and also give some promising upcoming boxers and coaches a chance to show their potential.
Tanzania team:
Men:
Minimumweight: Karim Juma
Flyweight: Yohana Kenneth
Bantamweight: Abdallah Salum
Featherweight: Hassan Waziri
Lightweight: Rashid Mrema
Light-welter: Alex Isendi and Mohammed Swalahe
Welterweight: Atanus Ndiganya
Light-middle: Joseph Philip and David Chanzi
Middleweight: Joshua Shadrack and Alphonce Abel
Light-heavy: Yusuf Changalawe and Nizza Abdalahamani
Cruiserweight: Jofrey Peter
Super heavy: Alex Sitta
Women:
Minimumweight: Rahma Maganga
Light-flyweight: Mariam Richard
Flyweight: Shakila Abdalah
Bantamweight: Aisha Iddi and Leila Yazidu
Lightweight: Beatrice Ambrose
Coaches:
Samuel Batman
Hassan Mzonge
Mussini Mohamed
Rogata Damian
Undule Lang’son
Haji Abdalah
Technical committee
Michael Changarawe (Mwanza)
Robert Suluhu (Dar es Salaam)
Credit: AFBC Communications