Black Bombers coach: “Our boxers did very well”

CWG 2014- Black Bombers coach: “Our boxers did very well”

The Head Coach of the Ghana National Amateur Boxing team, Ofori Asare, has expressed his satisfaction with the performance of his team at the just ended Commonwealth Games in Glasgow.

Flyweight Abdul Umar won the Black Bombers’ only medal at the Games, capturing a bronze medal in his division to equal the one medal the country won at the 2010 Games in Delhi.

The Bombers, who paraded seven boxers at the Games compared to nine in 2010, won six bouts in Glasgow, a feat their coach was keen to point out as an improvement over their previous performance.

“I think we did very well looking at the ages of the boxers, their competition level and their exposure,” Ofori Asare said, adding that “Our boxers did very well.”

Ofori Asare’s team thus equaled the Bombers’ record of winning a bronze medal each in the last two editions of the Games.

“Compared to the previous Commonwealth Games in Delhi, we came here with boxers who have less experience.”

“The previous team had Olympians and some of them had been to the Commonwealth Games about three times before. But they won only two fights in the whole competition in 2010.

“We won six fights with seven boxers compared to the two victories from the nine who fought in India.

“It was just that the draws did not favour us because some of the boxers despite winnning two fights only got to the quarter finals. The fights we won here tell me we can do better if we go to another competition.

The experienced coach was also keen to point out the positives of his team’s participation saying medal count is not always the best yardstick to judge a team.

“When you go to a competition, we don’t only use medals to gauge your overall performance. We also have to look at the number of fights and the quality of the fights.”

“Look at our boxers; they have never been to an international level competition for three years. So many things have changed.

“Now they no longer wear head guard. The judging system has also changed. Now that they have experienced this higher level competition, they will do better next time because they are still young. I’m very happy they have experienced this and have come very far.”

Ghana was represented by seven boxers at the Games: Sulemanu Tetteh (Light Flyweight), Abdul Wahib Omar (Flyweight), Jessie Lartey (Lightweight), Musah Rahman Lawson (Light Welterweight), Azumah Mohammed (Welterweight), David Bawah (Light Heavyweight) and Osumanu Haruna (Super Heavyweight).

From a high of seven medals at the 1966 Commonwealth Games, the Black Bombers have averaged 1.6 medals since 1980.