06 April 2004	Tuesday	15 Safar 1425

ISLAMABAD, April 5: Pakistanis advanced to the finals of nine weight classes in the SAF Games boxing competitions at Liaquat Gymnasium on Monday. The finals will be held on Tuesday with some Pakistani- Indian bouts set to attract spectators.

The Pakistanis who won their semifinal bouts on Monday and made it to the final were:

Meherullah (54 kg), Sohail Baloch (57 kg), Sajid Raja (60 kg), Faisal Karim (64 kg) and Ahmed Ali (75 kg).

Those qualifying for the finals after Sunday's semi finals were: Shoukat Ali Chattha, Numan Karim, Nisar Khan and Shoaib Rashid.

The interesting Pakistan-India bouts in Tuesday's finals will be: Sajid Raja vs Jai Bhagwan (60 kg), Faisal Karim vs Vigender (64 kg) etc.

Pakistan had won three gold medals while India had six in the last SAF Games held at Kathmandu (Nepal) in September 1999.

Semifinals results:-

54kg:-Meherullah (Pakistan) bt Ruhullah (Afghanistan), Warmmiar bt Diwakar Prasad (India).

57kg:Kamal Sameera (Sri Lanka) beat Humayon (Afghanistan), Sohail Baloch (Pakistan) beat Dhan Bahadur (Nepal).

60kg:-Jai Bhagwan (India) beat Habibullah (Afghanistan), Sajid Raja (Pakistan) beat Dependar (Nepa).

64kg:-Faisal Karim (Pakistan) beat Syed Haroon (Afghanistan), V igender (India) beat Jay Thilaka (Sri Lanka).

75kg:-Ahmed Ali (Pakistan) beat Habib Ali (Bangladesh), Bikash (Nepal) beat Karim Taraky (Afghanistan). -APP