Kampala, Uganda, Aug 25 (IANS): Five Ugandan boxers have qualified for the World Championships to be held in Doha from October 8 to 18.
The pugilists booked their berths through the African Boxing Confederation Championship, a qualifying event for the 2016 Rio Olympics, that ended in Casablanca, Morocco on Sunday.
They claimed bronze medals in their respective weight categories after losing in the semi-finals.
They include Fazil Juma Kaggwa (light flyweight), Rogers Semitala (bantamweight), Hassan Abdul (lightweight), Willy Kyakonye (heavyweight) and Michael Sekabembe (super heavyweight).
"This brightens our chances of qualifying several boxers for the 2016 Olympic Games," Fred Kavuma, publicity secretary of the Uganda Amateur Boxing Federation was quoted as saying by Xinhua on Monday.
Kavuma said although the Uganda squad comprised of eight boxers for the championship in Morocco, they are happy that five have made it for the World Championships.
Gold medalists from the Doha tourney will qualify for the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro.