Zibani Chikanda
Born (1985-08-23) 23 August 1985
Mathangwane, Botswana[1]
NationalityBotswana
Other namesGanda-Ganda[1]
Statistics
Weight(s)Middleweight
Medal record
Men's amateur boxing
Representing  Botswana
African Games
Bronze medal – third place2015 BrazzavilleMiddleweight
African Championships
Silver medal – second place2015 CasablancaMiddleweight
Zone 4 African Championships
Gold medal – first place2015 PretoriaMiddleweight
Gold medal – first place2016 MaputoMiddleweight

Zibani Chikanda (born 23 August 1985) is a Botswana former amateur boxer who competed at middleweight. He won a bronze medal at the 2015 African Games and a silver at the 2015 African Championships.

He was also a nine-time national champion, winning consecutive titles from 2009 to 2017.[2] For his accomplishments, he was named sportsman of the year by the Botswana National Sports Commission in 2016.

Early life

Chikanda was born on 23 August 1985 in Mathangwane, a village in the Central District of Botswana. He attended McConnell Senior Secondary School in nearby Tutume, initially focusing on volleyball before his older brother Buzani forced him to try boxing.[1] He began training in 2002 but took a break from the sport after finishing school.[1] In 2007 he was conscripted into the Botswana Defence Force, where he was able to make his return to the ring as a member of the Eastern Military Garrison boxing club, which he represented throughout his amateur career.[1]

Amateur career

In 2009, Chikanda was first called up to the Botswana national team.[1] Later that year he won his first of nine national championships with a narrow decision victory over Gomotsang Gaasite.[3] His first international competition was the 2011 Zone 4 African Championships, where he was the only member of Team Botswana who failed to medal.[4] He found limited success on the international stage for the next three years, with his sole notable result being a bronze medal-finish at the 2012 African Cup of Nations.[5]

His career resurged in April 2015 at the Zone 4 African Championships in Pretoria, where he won all three of his bouts en route to a gold medal.[1][6] Four months later, he reached the finals of the African Championships in Casablanca, falling to future World Championship bronze medallist Hosam Bakr Abdin.[7] He continued his success at the African Games that September, reaching the semi-finals and taking home a bronze medal.[1][8] He then participated at the 2015 World Championships in Doha, suffering a first-round defeat to Aljaž Venko of Slovenia.[9] In December he was named boxer of the year by the Botswana Boxing Association.[10] He would also be named sportsman of the year by the Botswana National Sports Commission a few months later, beating out heavily-favourited world-class sprinter Isaac Makwala and karateka Ofentse Bakwadi for the honour.[11]

He started 2016 by replicating his gold-medal performance at the Zone 4 African Championships in January.[12] At the African Olympic Qualification Tournament two months later, he beat Titus Joseph of Namibia in the preliminary round before being eliminated by Anauel Ngamissengue.[13] Chikanda then headlined an interclub tournament held at the Eastern Military Garrison in Selebi-Phikwe, his home training ground.[14] For the second year in a row he was named boxer of the year by the Botswana Boxing Association.[15]

He made an appearance at the 2017 African Championships in Brazzaville, but was knocked out in his first fight by Ngamissengué.[16] His final bout was at the 2017 National Championships in Gaborone, where he was able to win his ninth consecutive national title before retiring.[2]

Amateur results

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 Batlotleng, Baleseng (February–March 2018). "The slow but steady rise of Zibani Chikanda". Kutlwano. Vol. 55, no. 4. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
  2. 1 2 Masanako, Neo (21 February 2018). "Curtain falls for Chikanda". The Midweek Sun. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
  3. ↑ "Upcoming youngsters unstoppable at national boxing championships". The Sunday Standard. 2 December 2009. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
  4. ↑ "Botswana sets her eyes on Africa boxing championships and beyond". The Sunday Standard. 19 May 2011. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  5. 1 2 "ZIBANI CHIKANDA – 75 KG". AIBA. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
  6. ↑ "Botswana looks to conquer Africa as the region is vanquished". The Sunday Standard. 3 May 2015. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  7. ↑ Tsheko, Lefoko (2 September 2015). "Boxing team wins four medals". Botswana Daily News. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  8. ↑ "Team Botswana well on course to obtain 20 medals". The Botswana Gazette. 17 September 2015. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  9. ↑ Batlotleng, Baleseng (11 October 2015). "Bagwasi, Chikanda eliminated". Botswana Daily News. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  10. ↑ "Debswana, BoBA reward 2014/15 star boxer". The Midweek Sun. 10 December 2015. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  11. ↑ "Sibanda's treble illuminates BNSC Awards". The Botswana Gazette. 23 June 2016. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  12. 1 2 "Zone 4 African Championships". amateur-boxing.strefa.pl. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
  13. 1 2 "African Olympic Qualifier". amateur-boxing.strefa.pl. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
  14. ↑ "Chikanda headlines boxing tournament". Botswana Guardian. 12 July 2016. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  15. ↑ Kolantsho, Calistus (21 November 2016). "EMG's Chikanda Scoops Top Boxing Award". The Monitor. Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  16. ↑ Eloué, James Golden (21 June 2017). "18e Championnats africains de Boxe : Ngamissengué a encore mis KO". adiac-congo.com (in French). Retrieved 26 July 2020.
  17. ↑ "4.African Cup of Nations". amateur-boxing.strefa.pl. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
  18. ↑ "Botswana Best of the Best Tournament". amateur-boxing.strefa.pl. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
  19. ↑ "Zone 4 African Championships". amateur-boxing.strefa.pl. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
  20. ↑ "18.African Championships". amateur-boxing.strefa.pl. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
  21. ↑ "11.All-Africa Games". amateur-boxing.strefa.pl. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
  22. ↑ "18.World Championships". amateur-boxing.strefa.pl. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
  23. ↑ "19.African Championships". amateur-boxing.strefa.pl. Retrieved 25 July 2020.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.