(BEIJING, January 28) -- Twenty-one African boxers from eight countries qualified for the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games boxing competition after their semifinal bouts at the 1st AIBA African Olympic Qualifying Tournament in Algiers, Algeria, the AIBA's official website revealed on Monday (local time).
On Sunday's first bout of the semifinals, eleven boxers booked their Olympic tickets and ten more qualified for the forthcoming Games.
Monday's matches were highlighted by the Moroccan boxers' flying actions. After netting only one ticket netted on Friday, the team stood as the second in seat tally with four tickets.
Host nation Algeria swept six seats, followed by Morocco with five and Tunisia with four. Egypt got two tickets, and Ghana, Kenya, Namibia and Cameroon each booked one ticket.
Tuesday's seven bronze medal matches will offer fourteen more boxing tickets for African boxers before Friday's +91kg category, which will offer the final ticket of the Tournament.
The 1st AIBA Asian Olympic Qualifying Tournament finished its fourth day preliminary round event in Bangkok, Thailand on Monday with the top three countries remaining unbeaten.
The host team from Thailand won five matches, followed by China with four wins and one match win by Kuwait.
The preliminary round continues until Wednesday before Friday's semifinals, which will put the first qualifying spots on offer.
