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Al-Ahram Weekly 30 March - 5 April 2000 Issue No. 475 
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Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Al-Ahram Weekly 30 March - 5 April 2000 Issue No. 475
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| Published in Cairo by AL-AHRAM established in 1875 |
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Egypt Region International Economy Opinion Culture Special Focus Travel Living Sports Profile People Time Out Chronicles Cartoons Power in Sydney
Throughout the history of the modern Olympic Games, Egypt's achievements have neither met the aspirations of its people nor been consistent with its capabilities. The last Olympic medal -- a silver -- was one back in the 1984 Games in Los Angeles. Three Olympics followed and the total Egyptian medals tally has been an embarrassing zero. But it looks like the yawning gap between Egypt's players and Olympic medals might soon start closing thanks in large measure to its boxers, eight of whom are going to Sydney.
Seven qualified by coming atop their respective weight categories at the All-Africa Games in Johannesburg last September. Boxer No 8 booked his ticket by winning the African championship held in Cairo last week. In the tournament, Egypt entered only two boxers, Saleh Abdel-Bari and Mohamed Masoud, out of 22 altogether. One, Abdel-Bari, provided dividends. "We decided to give Masoud a chance in order to get some experience but our focus was primarily on Abdel-Bary," Abdel-Aziz Ghoneim, team manager, told Al-Ahram Weekly after the championship.
Ghoneim said any of his magnificent eight -- Abdel-Bari, Mohamed Heikal, Ramadan Abdel-Ghaffar, Ahmed Abdel-Samad, Mohamed Abdel-Rahim, Ahmed Ismail, Fadel Shabaan and Amr Mustafa -- were medal contenders. "However, we need some luck to avoid meeting the world champions in the preliminary round. If that happens, I can safely say we can win a medal."
Ismail Hamed, president of the Egyptian Boxing Federation and vice president of the Amateur International Boxing Association (AIBA), shared the same optimism. "Egyptian boxing is seeing its best days and is ready for the Olympic battle," Hamed said.
Medalists on the victory stand in Cairo
photo: Mohamed Mossaad
Egypt is currently ranked fifth in the latest world standings and, as a result, "we have very good players whose level and skills meet our aspirations," Hamed said. He added he was satisfied with the organisation of the championship, saying it was appreciated by all the participants and the African Boxing Federation. "You can ask any of the African delegations whether they faced any trouble during the championship," Hamed said. "We did our best and I think we succeeded."
The mood of optimism has passed on to the Egyptian boxers themselves. "I think I will be able to do something big in the Olympics," Heikal said. He said his goals were not restricted to getting just any Olympic medal but the gold in particular. "What I really need now is several matches with world champions before the Olympics," said the player who is a double gold medalist at the All-Africa Games and the Pan-Arab Games, and who also enjoys the Olympic Solidarity grant presented by the International Olympic Committee.
Concerning preparations for the Olympics, Hamed said each boxer would play around 25 matches before the Games begin.
Ringside at the African championship, Egypt was selected to host an international boxing championship to be named El-Houashy, after the president of the African federation. Winners of the tournament, to be held in June, will qualify for the Francophone Games. The announcement was made by Anwar Chowdhary, AIBA president, who recognised Egypt's abilities in organising major boxing championships in the past. "We cannot forget the success of the 1991 All-Africa Games held under the auspices of President Mubarak," Chowdhary said.
