Samoa Boxing Federation gears up for the Commonwealth Games.
Picture: Simon Bennett
The Commonwealth Games 2022 in Birmingham is only a few months away, with the event scheduled to begin on the 28th of July to the 8th of August. And as such some of the sporting bodies in the country are gearing up for it.
One such sport is that of Boxing, who have made their presence known in the previous commonwealth games in Gold Coast Australia when Ato PLODZICKI-FAOAGALI brought home the silver medal for the 81kg division.
The samoa boxing federation hopes to build on this achievement, as they look to send over to Birmingham 4 athletes to participate in the games. Faletolu Su’a the Samoa Boxing Federation Treasurer AND ITO international Technical Official told Eyespy Radio that the Federation had plans to host the Samoa National Championships in March of this year, which was going to be utilized as an avenue to select a team to represent Samoa in this Regional Event. Unfortunately due to covid 19 protocols and S.O.E restrictions, this plan could not come to pass.
Faletolu S’ua (Samoa Boxing Federation Treasurer )
The window to start prepping for the commonwealth games is shrinking with each day, commented Faletolu, so the federation has started to move on their preparations , where they have sent SASNOC the list of the 4 boxers they have selected for this endeavor.
This includes Ato Plodzicki for the 86kg division, Marion Ah Tong 70kg, both based abroad, and local boys Jancen Poutoa 81kg and Seanoa Hall 75kg, all high ranking in the region with a gold medal under their belts from the 2019 Pacific Games apart from youngster Seanoa Hall. The committee has opted to choose these local fighters based off of their performance in the 2021 National Championship and the standings that they hold in the pacific.
They could not wait any longer stated Faletolu, especially with the boys in Australia, as they have to search for sponsorship in order for them to compete. Unfortunately says the Federation Treasurer, a female athlete could not be found with only a limited number of female boxers to choose from.
The management of the team to take on the commonwealth games has yet to be named but the federation at the least has a team to participate which is a great start say Faletolu.