The fourth day of the competition that will ultimately decide which 36 names from the African continent are heading to Rio 2016 saw 22 preliminary-round and eight quarter-final contests of gripping elite boxing. Several of Monday’s best performances came from the hosts Cameroon, with all three of the team’s boxers in action taking a big step towards Olympic qualification.

It was Cameroon’s African Zonal Champion Simplice Fotsala who set the tone early on, making it through to the last four of the light flyweight competition after an inspired win over Algeria’s WSB boxer Zoheir Toudjine. Namibia’s Mathias Hamunyela also progressed after knocking out Morocco’s defending African Champion and one of the favourites for a qualification place Imad Ahyoun. Kenyan veteran Peter Mungai Warui then closed in on his first Olympic Games by defeating Ghana’s Sulemanu Tetteh.

“After AIBA raised the age limit I decided to try to qualify for the Olympic Games one last time in my career. I have boxed at several big events and I think that this experience made the difference between us today in Yaoundé. I had a tough rival but I really wanted to win this important bout, and now I am nearer to my dream,” said Peter Mungai Warui after his superb quarter-final triumph.

Uganda’s Beijing 2008 Olympian Ronald Serugo used all his experience to beat Egyptian teenager Abdelrahman Alaa Abdelrehim Ahmed, and is now joined in the flyweight semi-finals by Sikho Nqothole after the South African’s memorable win over defeated Congo’s All Africa Games champion Francel Moussiessie.

South Africa’s London 2012 Olympian Ayabonga Sonjica is on the verge of a second Olympic appearance after beating Gabon’s experienced Franck Stevie Mombey at bantamweight, and Cameroon number one Dieudonne Wilfried Seyi Ntsengue needed only 97 seconds to eliminate Ivory Coast’s Issouf Coulibaly to reach the middleweight quarter-finals. Joining Ntsengue is Ghana’s Musah Rahman Lawson after he powered past Nigeria’s Korede Mojeed Adeniji.

Cameroonian light heavyweight Ulrich Yombo had the crowd behind him as he edged past Morocco’s Hassan Saada, but Saada’s super heavyweight teammate and APB star Mohammed Arjaoui secured his place in the semi-finals after beating Algeria’s Mohamed Grimes. Arjaoui now faces Cape Verde’s three-time National Champion Davilson Dos Santos Morais, while main rival Efe Ajagba also made it through against Seychelles’ Keddy Agnes.

Please find all the results here.

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