Andiego's hopes for Olympics ticket suffers huge dent after losing to EL Mardi

Kenya’s hopes of having one of their own boxers representing the nation at next year’s Paris 2024 Olympic Games took a huge dent Friday afternoon as last standing pugilist, Elizabeth Andiego, suffered a finals points defeat to Moroccan and 2023 World Heavyweight Champion Khadija El Mardi at the Dakar Arena in Senegal.

Built up as an opportunity for last year’s Africa Boxing Championships silver medalist Andiego to reverse the tide that had seen her lose twice to the same opponent in a span of two years, it was the Kenyan who had a brighter start in the women’s 75kg final, ultimately losing tempo to succumb to a 5-0 unanimous judges’ decision.

Andiego, the first Kenyan woman to make the Olympics, landed a flurry of heavy shots out of the gates, but as has been the case with Mardi, she maintained her poise and kept her opponent at bay, often going for straight hooks from her powerful left jab.

Having won the previous bouts against Andiego at 81kgs in Maputo (final) and Yaounde (semifinal) in 2022 and 2023 respectively, Mardi looked nothing but the dominant figure she has been despite the weight change, and took the first round 10-9 on all judges’ scorecards.

The second round proved difficult for Andiego when she got penalized and subsequently had a point deducted from her score for head dipping.

A left uppercut late in the round from Mardi compounded Andiego’s troubles and the third round wasn’t any different as she got one right punch land on her chin, bringing up another 10-9 score in both rounds, totaling to a 30-26 points win for the Moroccan.

Andiego carries Kenya's final hopes in Olympics Boxing Qualifiers semifinal

Next year’s Summer Games will be the second time Mardi will compete at the Olympics after making her debut in 2016.

The African heavyweight champion earned a ticket to the Tokyo 2020 games but pulled out due to medical reasons.

As for Andiego, it remains to be seen what her next course of action will be, as there exists a route namely; two world qualification tournaments in Busto Arzizio, Italy from 29 February to 12 March, and Bangkok, Thailand from 23 May to 3 June next year.