MUJANDJAE Kasuto and Matheus Jonas will represent Namibia at the forthcoming London Olympic Games after earning their places through the African Olympic qualifiers in Casablanca, Morocco last week.
Kasuto won a silver medal in the 75kg Middleweight category after losing 10-2 on points to Haddioui Badr-Eddine of Morocco in the final on Saturday.The burly Namibian showed a lot of aggression, taking the fight to Badr-Eddine, but his punches did not land cleanly, while the Moroccan raked in the points on the counterattack. Badr-Eddine won the first round 2-0 and the second 3-1 before taking the third 5-1 for a comfortable 10-2 victory.Kasuto had already clinched an Olympic berth when he beat Hassan Chagtemi of Tunisia 16-15 in the quarterfinals.In the semifinals he was once again involved in a close fight before beating Abdelmalek Rahou of Algeria 12-11 on points.The secretary general of the Namibia Boxing Association Joe Kaperu said that Kasuto gave a great performance to reach the final.’His Moroccan opponent in the final was not to be underestimated as he is the current African champion. The middleweight division was also one of the toughest divisions with the most talented boxers in it, so Kasuto did very well,’ he said.Matheus had also qualified for the Olympics after gaining one of the five places on offer in the 56kg bantamweight category.Matheus lost 17-8 to Aboubakr Lbida of Morocco in the quarterfinals and when Lbida went on to win the gold medal, Matheus clinched the fifth and final spot in the bantamweight category.Kaperu said he was satisfied with the two Olympic slots that Namibia had won.’I am totally happy. We of course wanted about three or four places, but if you bear in mind that 35 nations competed for places at the Olympics, then it was a good result,’ he said.Kaperu said they would now prepare for the Africa Cup of Nations Boxing Championships which takes place in Gaborone, Botswana from June 9-16. He added that they were negotiating with the Namibian government to send Kasuto and Matheus to Cuba for further training ahead of the Olympic Games.- namibiasport.com.na
