From SHAMAOMA MUSONDA In Bulawayo –
BOXERS Timothy Chiyesu and Nkumbu Silungwe yesterday won gold medals while favourite Emmanuel Ngoma ended up with silver after an infamous judge’s decision robbed him of the gold medal at the Africa Union Sports Council (AUSC) Region Five Games.
Meanwhile, Zambia’s medal count rose to 14 after sprinter Sydney Siame picked up silver with a second place finish in the 100m finals. There was also a rare gold medal in high jump courtesy of Joseph Siame.
This means that the four Zambian boxers at the games have picked two gold medals, one silver and one bronze with the judokas getting two gold, a silver and three bronze translating into five gold, three silver and six bronze.
Lightweight Timothy Chiyesu was arguably the best performer in the ring as he danced around and occasionally toyed with his South Africa opponent, Thethelelo Ngema before taking a split-points decision.
Chiyesu totally dominated the first two rounds before he relaxed in the third where he danced to avoid combat and occasionally got hit but the bout had already been won.
Welterweight Silungwe fought a more relaxed fight after the two brutal ones that got him to the final where he defeated Atang Mosenke of Botswana on a split point decision.
But Ngoma’s bantamweight defeat to Angolan boxer Francisco Gomes on a split point’s decision came as a shock to everyone in the auditorium.
This was after Ngoma dominated the first and third rounds with his opponent taking a mandatory eight-count in the third and it was no surprise when boos greeted the announcement as well as medal presentation when the bout was handed to the Angolan.
Rabson Tembo, who lost his semi-final fight, was also given his bronze medal at the medal ceremony yesterday.
In athletics, Sydney, the Youth Olympics champion, missed out on a gold medal in the 100m dash at the packed White City Arena.
Sydney finished second after timing his personal best of 10.51 seconds again with Brian Kasinda also finishing marginally behind him into third after clocking 10.61 seconds for a bronze.
Female runner Marjory Chisenga finished third in the women 100m race timing 12.16 seconds while Abigail Sepiso, who had also qualified for the 100m final, finished just behind Chisenga in fourth with a time of 12.31 seconds to miss out on a medal.
Another runner who marginally missed out on the medal was Moono Mukombo who finished fourth in the 5000m race.
But little-known Joseph brought smiles on Zambia after he won a gold medal in high jump after clearing a height of 2.2 meters.