African Games : I deserve national award for Team Nigeria boxers performance- Konyegwachie
National boxing Coach, Tony Konyegwachie has expressed concern that despite all his achievement both as a boxer and national boxing coach, no special recognition has been accorded to him; saying that he deserves a national award for leading the country’s boxers to glory at the just concluded 13th African Games in Ghana.
Nigerian boxers put up a splendid performance at the Games, winning 8 gold and 2 silver to top the boxing table and Konyegwachie believes that now is the right time for him to be given one of the country’s national awards.
” I believe I have done more than enough for the country’s boxing to be considered for a national award. This is not the first time I’m nurturing boxers to win medals for this country and am happy coming back as a hero.
” At the All African Games in 2011, I made the country proud in Maputo, Mozambique and in 2015 at Congo Brazzaville, I repeated the same feet and here in Ghana, I emerged as the best boxing coach in the entire African continent.
” I’m an Olympian and have been to several Olympics, five Commonwealth Games and won medals in all.This is my sixth African Games and I did very well and it will take decades before anybody can break my record, So, I feel that apart from monetary reward, I deserve a special honour and national award”, noted the Olympian.
Konyegwachie lamented that after the last Commonwealth Games, his boxers were given national awards while the coaches that trained them including his humble self were left out which he said is not good for sports development.
On what made his boxers to perform excellently well in Ghana, he attributed it to dedication and hard work.
” I would say there was no magic in the achievement we recorded in Ghana. I drilled and trained my boxers very well and their hard work, dedication and determination gave us victory.
” You remember that before we departed this country for the Games, I promised that I will be winning between five to seven gold medals but getting there, God added extra one to us to make it eight. I wanted to break the record and that was what I exactly did
Speaking on the Olympics qualifiers coming up next month in Thailand, the veteran coach expressed confidence that with the performance of his pugilists in Ghana, the team will be sent on training tour where they will be exposed to the best equipment and facilities for training.
” Already we have three boxers that have qualified for the Olympics and we’re hoping to go to Thailand later next month for another qualifiers to pick two or three more tickets for the Paris 2024 Olympics.
Coach Konyegwachie appealed to the government to give more encouragement to athletes through provision of modern facilities and incentives which will motivate them to do more for their fatherland.
” There is need for the government to leverage on the successes in Ghana and motivate athletes more to enable them win more laurels for the country at international competitions.
” In doing this, athletes must be sponsored to competitions where they’ll have the opportunity to compete among the best in the world and by so doing garner more experience”, he concluded.
