As Rwanda faces an uphill task of sending national pugilists to next year’s Olympic Games to be held in Beijing, China, the national Amateur Boxing federation Rwanda Amateur Boxing Association is set to hold national selection championships in October officials have revealed.

The boxing association Secretary General, Eugene Ndashyikirwa told Times Sport yesterday that the championship is meant for selection of national pugilists who will take part in next year’s Olympic Games qualifiers whose date and venue is yet to be decided.

"We shall host the national championship in late October and we have requested every boxing club in the country to prepare their boxers such that we can have strong and skilled boxers who can win an Olympic spot for our country,” Ndashyikirwa said.

Ndashyikirwa further added that the only way of qualifying for next year’s Olympic Games is selecting good boxers at the national level.

The association Technical Director, Gashugi Kananura also revealed that qualifying for China Olympic Games next year, will not come by luck except by hard work and determination.

"We want to host the championship, evaluate the boxers’ performance in holding regional boxing build ups so as to have a fully prepared national squad,” Gashugi said.

Raba held an inter-clubs tournament last weekend to prepare boxers ahead of the national championships.

Following a poor showing during the African Championship held in Madagascar and non participation in the All Africa Games mid this year, Rwanda faces a mountainous task to qualify for the Olympics.

Rwanda will also not be showing up for the World boxing Championships due in Chicago in October citing financial constraints.

In a related development two AIBA technical delegates for the AIBA World Boxing Championships Chicago 2007 - Mr. Franco Falcinelli (Italy) and Mr. Kishen Narsi (India) gave preparations for AIBA’s premier event the thumbs up following the completion of a three-day coordination visit to Chicago.

Mr. Falcinelli and Mr. Narsi led a six-strong AIBA team, which also included AIBA Executive Director Mr. Ho Kim and AIBA Executive Committee and Medical Commission member Dr. Charles Butler, who inspected the facilities and operations for the XIV AIBA World Championships.

"We have been very impressed with the Local Organizing Committee’s (LOC) professionalism,” Mr. Falcinelli, who is also the chairman of the AIBA World Championship Commission, said.

"Preparations are well advanced and the LOC has shown extreme clarity and efficiency in all of its lead up work to date. With just a month to go before the competition starts we have full confidence in Chicago and look forward to what will be the most important world championships in AIBA’s history with the new AIBA President Dr. Ching-Kuo Wu taking boxing into a new era of reform.”

"The AIBA World Boxing Championships Chicago 2007 is set to be a memorable event for all concerned thanks to Chicago’s and USA Boxing’s dedication to making sure this event is a success,” Mr Narsi, an AIBA Executive Committee member, said.

"Every aspect of preparation from visas, to accommodation and training facilities - have been well addressed and we have come away confident that Chicago has the capacity and know-how to host a spectacular event.”

The AIBA World Boxing Championships Chicago 2007, which runs from October 23 to November 3 and is also the opening qualifying event for the 2008 Olympic Games, will be the largest in AIBA history with 693 registered boxers from 121 countries.

The AIBA Advisory Council and AIBA Executive Committee and will also meet in Chicago on October 20th and 21st respectively, followed by an Extraordinary Congress on October 22, the same day as the opening ceremony to the AIBA World Boxing Championships Chicago 2007.

Ends