Manswell beaten in Olympic qualifying box-off

TIJUANA: Trinidad and Tobago’s Caribbean heavyweight boxing champion Kertson Manswell was eliminated in the Olympic qualifying tournament on Thursday night. Manswell lost a close semi-final against American Ricky Vargas 20-16 on points and will be forced to go to Brazil next month for a last qualifying opportunity. Eyeing a spot to this summer’s Olympics in Greece, Manswell had advanced to the last four with a convincing first-round win over Aruba’s Anthony Ignacio on Monday night.

Manswell, who won silver medals at the Pan Am Games (2003), Commonwealth Games (2002) and Central American and Caribbean Games (2002), is expected to travel to Brazil for next qualifying series for this hemisphere starting on April 4. Yesterday Tansley Thompson, who is co-ordinating the Tobaganian boxer’s qualifying campaign held out hope of Manswell qualifying in Brazil. “I believe that he will get in. The decision was a very close and controversial one in Tijuana and was greeted with disappointment by the fans there. Maybe there was a little overconfidence on Manswell’s part,” said Thompson. “This can be a blessing in disguise. We will turn it around to his benefit,” he said.