Boxing national team head coach Gashuji Kananura has called for early preparation ahead of the first Beijing Olympics African qualifier set for January 22 in Algeria.

Gashuji who doubles as Raba technical director said this after their Ugandan counterparts turned down an invitation for a build up tournament because they are preparing for their national championship, so they can’t have boxers to send to Kigali.

"They are not coming and we can not play them in January because we will be busy preparing for the Algeria qualifiers. What we need most is a residential training and many build up matches,” said Gashuji.

Rwandan boxers are preparing to participate in two Beijing qualifiers one in Algeria and another one scheduled for March 22 in Namibia.

Gashuji said that the national team of 20 boxers and other boxers in clubs are all engaged in non residential training in preparation for the selection tournament of the Beijing qualifiers team.

"We want to select the best team, because there are some boxers who did not play the national championship and who may be eligible for the qualifiers. But we need build ups before that,” he noted.

The national championship, he added, does not suffice for its champions to automatically play the qualifiers. A build up match is planned to take place before the Algeria Beijing Olympics qualifier.

Gashuji noted that late build ups and residential training have an effect on the players’ confidence. Only a month way to the Algeria event, Raba is still waiting for the National Olympics Committee (RNOC) to give them a go ahead to start residential training.

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