October 13, 2003	Monday	Sha'aban 16, 1424

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KARACHI, Oct 12: Local boxing stars Asghar Ali Shah and Meherullah won golds but could not stop Hungary from dethroning Pakistan and becoming the new champions of the third Green Hill international tournament after scoring 24 points on Sunday.

The Hungarians scooped-up three golds and two silvers, Kazakhstan grabbed three golds and a bronze to finish as runners- up with 20 points, while second runners-up North Korea secured 18 points, won a gold and three silvers at KPT Sports Complex.

Featherweight Kertesl Henrik, middleweight Balzsay Karoly and heavyweight Hideugi Gyorgy grabbed the golds for Hungary, while light-flyweight Bedak Pd and lightweight Kate Gyula clasped the silvers.

According to International Boxing Association rules, wins in pre-quarterfinal and quarterfinal bouts gives one point, two points for a win in the semifinal and three for winning the final bout.

Pakistan, the champions of the 1998 inaugural and second edition of the tournament in 2000, failed to repeat their past performances despite fielding two teams in the competition. In the second edition Pakistan Greens had won six golds.

Pakistan Greens, having comparatively experienced and senior boxers than Whites, collected 15 points to settle at fourth place. The Pakistan Boxing Federation (PBF) had been bitterly criticized by a former official before the contest for overlooking deserving boxers to accommodate favourites.

However, bantamweight Meherullah and lightweight Asghar Ali Shah of Pakistan Greens lived up to the expectations by clinching golds in contrasting fashion.

After remaining out-of-sort in his earlier bouts, Asghar finally showed his class when he came out of his shell to thrash Hungary’s Kate Gyula 31-10.

Asghar, who earned his first international gold in the inaugural edition, proved technically far superior against the Hungarian who failed to take advantage of his better reach.

Asghar started cautiously in the first and second round to score few points but mounted pressure to subdue his tall rival in the later two rounds.

The hapless Hungarian had no answer to Asghar’s hit-and-run technique in the third round as the Pakistani kept on slamming some sharp jabs before getting out of his opponent’s reach.

Although Gyula attempted to stage a comeback in the dying seconds of the final round by throwing some powerful blows, it was Asghar who emerged a deserved winner and became the best boxer of the tournament.

But for Meher, it was a close shave. The diminutive boxer from Karachi’s slum area Lyari who has recently changed his weight category from featherweight to bantamweight, was not looking as confident against North Korea’s Choe Pyong Chal, as he was in his earlier fights.

After remaining bit cautious in the opening and second round, Meher had to face tough resistance in the last two rounds. Choe was in aggressive mood in the third, and especially in the fourth as he unleased a string of blows to earn some crucial points but lost to the Pakistani 11-13 after receiving a warning in the final round.

Asghar and Meher received Rs25,000 each as cash prize from Pakistan Rangers (Sindh). Meher, however, donated the amount to Muslim Azad Boxing Club as a token of respect and affection for his club where he started sparring.

The six Pakistani bronze medallists — flyweight Akhtar Pervaiz, featherweight Sohail Baloch, welterweight Dur Mohammad, middleweight Ahmad Ali Khan, heavyweight Abdul Razzaq and super- heavyweight Muzaffar Iqbal — received Rs5,000 from the rangers.

However, super-heavyweight Saifullah Niazi of Pakistan Whites put up the most disappointing show when he was knocked out by Iran’s Mohammad Raza within 50 seconds of the first round.

Saifullah, who was directly placed in the semifinals and hardly managed to beat Kuwait’s Abdulah Alqalaf on Saturday, was a mismatch as the Iranian hammered him and landed a lightning right to floor the Pakistani claiming the gold.

A dismal show by Saifullah even forced the Rangers to change their heart as they decided against giving Rs10,000 to the sliver medallist which they had earlier announced.

Saifullah was the second boxer of the tournament who was floored, while the first one was another Pakistani middleweight Mushtaq who was knocked out in the opening round by Hungarian Balzsay Karoly.

Meanwhile, the chairman jury Kamel Shabib said the protest by Azerbaijan had been rejected. Azerbaijan had lodged a protest when light-heavyweight Ismailov Ali lost to Kazakshtan’s Shumenov Beibut after a controversial 32-21 decision in semifinals.

Results (finals):

Light-flyweight: Kwak Hyok Ju (North Korea) bt Bedak Pd (Hungary) 55-42. Harry Tanamoy (Philippines) and Atagun Yalcinkaya (Turkey) (bronze).

Flyweight: Rakhimzhanov Mirzhan (Kazakhstan) bt Kim I Hyok (North Korea) 20-17. Akhtar Pervaiz (Pakistan Greens) and Abiyev Jeykhun (Azerbaijan) (bronze).

Bantamweight: Meherullah (Pakistan Greens) bt Choe Pyong Chal (North Korea) 13-11. P. Chin Afanasr (Russia) and Manju Wanniarachchi (Sri Lanka) (bronze).

Featherweight: Kertesl Henrik (Hungary) bt Kim Song Guk (North Korea) 12-11. Sohail Baloch (Pakistan Greens) and Y. Morthaisong (Thailand) (bronze).

Lightweight: Asghar Ali Shah (Pakistan Greens) bt Kate Gyula (Hungary) 31-19. Orakbayev Kanat (Kazakhstan) and Selcuk Aydin (Turkey) (bronze).

Light-welterweight: Strulnikov Dmitri (Kazakhstan) bt Somchai Nakbaree (Thailand) 32-19. Khametov Eccard (Russia) and Aydinov Nasimi (Azerbaijan) (bronze).

Welterweight: Orazmamedow (Turkmenistan) bt Sofivev Orhan (Azerbaijan) 11-10. Dur Mohammad (Pakistan Greens) and Bulent Ulusoy (Turkey) (bronze).

Middleweight: Balzsay Karoly (Hungary) bt Tagiyev Javid (Azerbaijan) 26-12. Ahmad Ali Khan (Pakistan Greens) and Serdar Ustuner (Turkey) (bronze).

Light-heavyweight: Shumenov Beibut (Kazakhstan) bt Yildirim Tarhan (Turkey) walkover. Ismailov Ali (Azerbaijan) and Jabari Dastjerd (Iran) (bronze).

Heavyweight: Hiduegi Gyorgy (Hungary) bt Alekperov Vugar (Azerbaijan) 22-10. Abdul Razzaq (Pakistan Greens) and Ertu Rul Ergezen (Turkey) (bronze).

Super-heavyweight: N. Mohammad Raza (Iran) bt Saifullah Niazi (Pakistan Whites) KO. Muzaffar Iqbal (Pakistan Greens) and Abdulah Alqalaf (Kuwait) (bronze).