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| March 24, 2006 | Friday | Safar 23, 1427 |
Meherullah punches his way into final
MELBOURNE, March 23: Asian Games gold medallist Meherullah kept Pakistan’s flag flying as he punched his way into the final of the 57kgs featherweight boxing event of the Commonwealth Games beating hosts Christopher Luke Jackson. With this deserved victory Karachi’s Meher assured himself a silver medal.
Mehar outslugged local favourite Jackson on points 20-13, overcoming a strong challenge from his rival in the fourth round which he lost 4-6.
His opponent for the gold will be England’s Francis Stephen Smith on Saturday after a day’s rest on Friday.
Mehar kept his cool in front of a partisan crowd and defied all odds to win a difficult contest as the first round ended in a 1-1 draw.
Pakistani boxer rallied strongly to claim the next two rounds 8-3, 7-3 to ensure victory although the Australian took the fourth round with two points.
Mehar who represented the country in Athens Olympics made calculated moves thoroughly understanding the acts and total strength of his rival who was cheered by a packed crowd on his every attack.
Busan Asian Games Gold medallist, Mehar anticipated greater agility and prowess matching the speed of who was thrilled the audience with his speedy foot work and accurate punching but Mehar foiled most of his Jackson’s punches and repeatedly landed point winning blows.
“I am glad to reach the final and very delighted to assure Pakistan a silver and now my eyes are set on winning the gold though the task is not an easy won,” said Mehar.
He termed the bout against Australian very tough saying that the crowd was also on the side of the home boxer and he was lucky enough to overcome the odds to clinch a victory.
“Commonwealth Games boxing is never easy and my round was very tough and I am thankful to God Almighty for reaching the final which is a big achievement for me after winning a gold at Asian level”, he said.
“I dedicate my all success to my homeland”, he said adding” the victory in the semifinal will serve as a big inspiration to go all out for achieving another landmark in my boxing career by winning the gold”.
Shooters fail
Pakistani male and female shooters failed miserably and were eliminated in their respective qualification rounds on Thursday.
Mehwish Maqsood, Nazish Khan and Urooj Fatima and Maqbool Tabassum failed to make any impact, showing poor results.
Mehwish participated in women’s 10m air pistol qualification round, finished 10th, out of 22 competitors with a total score of 372.
Nazish and Urooj featuring in women’s 50m rifle qualification were at the rock bottom taking 22nd and 23rd spots.
In prone, standing and kneeling, Nazish scored total 543 points and at the end of the competition was Urooj with 536.
Out of 16 shooters, Maqbool was in fifth place failing to get a notable place in the men’s 25m rapid fire pistol qualification, claiming a total of 562 in stage 1 and stage 2 of the men’s 25m rapid fire pistol .
Farjad, Kashif beaten
Pakistan made exit table tennis men’s singles event when Farjad Saif and Kashif Razzaq were beaten in the preliminary round matches on Thursday.
Veteran Farjad’s consolation was that he won the second game before going down 4-1 by Nigerian Tajudeen Jegede who advanced to the next round with 11-2, 8-11, 12-10, 11-7, 11-5 success..
Kashif Razzq fell in the identical manner to Guyana’s Idi Lewis. The score was 11-6,9-11,11-5,11-8,12-10.—Agencies
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