Mr. Serik Konakbayev: Asia has got 33 new boxers in the Olympic Games after Qian’an

Mr. Serik Konakbayev: Asia has got 33 new boxers in the Olympic Games after Qian’an
AIBA Vice-President and President of the Asian Boxing Confederation Mr. Serik Konakbayev arrived to Qianan to the venue of the AIBA Asian & Oceanian Olympic Qualification Event still in the first day of the important competition to check the performance of our continent’s best women and boxers.
He visited all day of boxing in the AIBA Asian & Oceanian Olympic Qualification Event which was the second chance for our boxers in an AOB (AIBA Open Boxing) competition to qualify for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games. Mr. Serik Konakbayev shared with us his thoughts after the whole event where 36 boxers qualified for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games and among them 33 are Asians.
“First of all I would like to congratulate all of the women and men boxers who have already qualified for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games on Friday and Saturday and now we are looking forward to seeing their performance in Brazil in August.
The AIBA Asian & Oceanian Olympic Qualification Event was the second possibility for our men boxers to qualify for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games from an AOB competition after the Doha 2015 AIBA World Boxing Championships therefore the importance of the tournament was one of the highest in our continent this year. For our strong women boxers the event was their first chance to qualify for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games.
Thirteen of our strongest men boxers from Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, China, Iran and Thailand have qualified for the Rio 2016 Olympic Games from AIBA World Boxing Championships, APB and WSB events last year, and now here in Qian’an six new countries as Japan, Jordan, Kyrgyzstan, Mongolia, Philippines and India could join to them from our continent after the finals and box-offs.
This was the very first time when the Oceanian boxers could join to the Asian Olympic Qualification Event which was strengthen the competition in Qian’an. I am proud of the performance of the Asian boxers as among the 36 quota places our continent’s best athletes could take 33 spots which means we have got now total 46 for Rio.
Our further goal is to raise the number of our quota places in the upcoming AIBA Women’s World Boxing Championships in Astana, in the Final AOB World Olympic Qualification Event in Baku and also in the APB/WSB Olympic Qualifiers.
As we mentioned in our communication before the competition the Asian Boxing Confederation is focusing to the Rio 2016 Olympic Games this year. The AIBA Asian & Oceanian Olympic Qualification Event was our most important competition in the first period of the year and after the successful challenge we would like to show our continent’s development in Brazil.
I would say a thank you to Mr. Li Qiang the President of the Chinese Boxing Federation and to the Local Organising Committee hosting the AIBA Asian & Oceanian Olympic Qualification Event in the highest level,” said Mr. Serik Konakbayev after the AIBA Asian & Oceanian Olympic Qualification Event.