Ongare ready for action against fancied Estonian Gorishnaya

Flyweight boxer Christine Ongare in a past training session. [File]

Commonwealth Games flyweight bronze medallist Christine Ongare will face Diana Gorishnaya of Estonia in her first match on day two of the Konstantin Korotkov Memorial International Boxing Championships in Khabarovsk, Russia.

Fresh from winning a silver medal in the Africa Zone Three Boxing Championships in Democratic Republic of Congo, Ongare faces a daunting task against an opponent who is completely unknown to her and in a country that has different traditions.

But Ongare is determined to give her best in a tournament that all participating countries are using to gauge their boxers in readiness for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics that will be held from July 23 to August 8.

Another match set for this evening will pit national welterweight champion Elizabeth Akinyi against Maria Moronto of Dominican Republic.

There will be two matches this afternoon and head coach Musa Benjamin is aware of the task ahead of him as the two European boxers are unknown to the Kenyan players.

Participants are drawn from Europe, Africa and Asia. Kenya and Morocco are Africa’s representatives at the championships.

“Our main objective in the tournament is to give our squad exposure, but we are determined to post positive results as we gauge their performance in and out of the ring,” Benjamin told Standard Sports.

The team arrived in the city of Khabarovsk on Sunday, where Kenyan officials were involved in a technical meeting with the organisers before coming up with the draws that were released yesterday.

Benjamin is being assisted by his two assistants David Munuhe and John Waweru.

The Kenya squad has four boxers.