October 9, 2003	Thursday	Sha’aban 12, 1424

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KARACHI, Oct 8: Pakistan endured a miserable opening day at Green Hill Cup international boxing tournament as six out of their eight boxers crashed out in the first round on Wednesday.

Pakistan Whites’ lightweight Sajid Raja won 12-9 against North Korea’s Kon Yong Ho after a surprize decision, while bantamweight Tariq Zia outpointed Kuwait’s Mishari Alfadli 15-2.

Sajid started with aimless punches in the air and continued the practice until the final round with exception of few blows on target. On the other hand the Korean had a better technique and accuracy and seemed to be scoring points at will.

Kon went on the defensive in the second round only to judge his rival. The decision, however, came in favour of the Pakistani.

Tariq had smooth sailing against the Kuwaiti and forced the referee to give Alfadli eight mandatory counts in the second and then in the third round.

The shaky Kuwaiti even squatted on the floor in the third round after receiving some solid jabs from the young Pakistani who finally emerged worthy victor.

Flyweight Shoaib Rasheed, another Pakistan Whites boxer, receiving severe thrashing from Sri Lanka’s Anurudha Rathnayake.

Rathnayake unleashed a string of rights and lefts to stun his rival in the first round which resulted in eight counts for the Pakistani. Shoaib, despite being taller than the Sri Lankan, again received the eight counts in the second round allowing the visitor to win 22-7.

Yasir of Pakistan Whites was given a lesson by Thailand’s Somchai Nakbaree who won the light-welterweight bout with referee stopping the fight, while light-heavyweight Tanveer Shaukat of Pakistan Greens lost to Azerbaijan’s Ismailov Ali after a RSC verdict.

Pakistan Greens’ Allah Bukhsh was nothing but a punching bag for Iran’s Jabari Dastjerd Tahir who also won the light- heavyweight skirmish on RSC decision.

Featherweight Zahid Hussain of Pakistan Whites, although enjoyed the advantage of better reach, lost to Thailand’s Yudthapon Morthaisong 9-22.

China’s Yen Qiu outboxed Pakistan Whites’ light-flyweight Mushtaq 14-10.

Results (first round):

Light-flyweight: Yen Qiu (China) bt Mushtaq (Pakistan Whites) 14-10.

Flyweight: Anurudha Rathnayake (Sri Lanka) bt Shoaib Rasheed (Pakistan Whites) 22-7; Orakbayev Kanat (Kazakhstan) bt Somphop Phunthong (Thailand) 18-4.

Bantamweight: Tariq Zia (Pakistan Whites) bt Mishari Alfadli (Kuwait) 15-2; Junard Lapon (Phillipines) bt Yuttaphon Sutnongbua (Thailand) 17-6; Choe Phyong (North Korea) bt Liu Tao (China) 19- 7.

Featherweight: Yudthapong Morthaisong (Thailand) bt Zahid Hussain (Pakistan Whites) 22-9; Imranov Shahin (Azerbaijan) bt Nurullah O Uz (Turkey) 13-8; Igna Ive Sergey (Russia) bt Waleed Alharbi (Kuwait) RSC.

Lightweight: Sajid Raja (Pakistan Whites) bt Kon Yong Ho (North Korea) 12-9.

Light-welterweight: Somchai Nakbaree (Thailand) bt Yasir (Pakistan Whites) RSC.

Light-heavyweight: Ismailov Ali (Azerbaijan) bt Tanveer Shaukat (Pakistan Greens) RSC; Shumenov Beibut (Kazakhstan) bt Jamshidullah (Afghanistan) retired; Yildirim Tarhan (Turkey) bt Khaled Atallah (Kuwait) RSC; Jabari Dastjerd Tahir (Iran) bt Allah Bukhsh (Pakistan Greens) 32-13.