July 10, 2006	Monday	Jumadi-ul-Sani 13, 1427

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KARACHI, July 9: Pakistan had a disastrous day when their three pugilists crashed out but they heaved a sigh of relief as Dur Mohammad and Faisal Kareem moved into Green Hill Cup boxing quarter-finals on Sunday.

Light-welterweight Karrar Hussain, welterweight Syed Hayatullah and middleweight Nadir Khan, all representing Pakistan Whites, fell by the wayside at KPT Sports Complex.

While Pakistan, despite fielding two teams — Greens and Whites — were not as impressive as they should have been, the day was marred by a controversial decision in the welterweight fight between Korea’s Kim Jung-Joo and Yunosov Bohzodbek of Uzbekistan.

Jung-Joo, who was winning 31-17 in the fourth round, was disqualified by the referee after third warning for foul. The Korean was leading 5-4 in the opening round and was deadlocked at 8-8 in the second. Jung-Joo led the third round 12-5 and 8-0 in the fourth.

The decision resulted in protest by Jung-Joo who refused to leave the ring and stayed in his corner for quite a long time after referee raised Bohzodbek’s hand amid shouts of shame! shame! from the crowd.

As the Korean left the ring finally his manager Jang Hae Man went to the jury along with Jung-Joo to express his disappointment.

“The referee disqualified our boxer at the stage when he was winning the bout. It should have been only one warning. But second and third warnings given by the referee were wrong and injustice. But we respect referee’s decision and don’t plan the lodge an official protest,” Hae Man told Dawn through interpreter after the bout.

Nadir lost to Thailand’s Kraingkai Sukkhum after a close 100/91 decision on average as both remained locked at 25-25 after the final bell.

Despite a better reach, Nadir looked a novice against his much superior Thai opponent who started thrashing with a straight right to local youngster to lead the opening round 8-5.

Sukkhum continued the punishment with his fine display of technique and footwork, hammering Nadir all the way in the second round to lead 14-11. As the Thai prevailed over Nadir in the third round in which the Sukkhum lead 21-14, Pakistan coach Julian Ricardo was removed from ringside by referee for shouting instructions.

Nadir recovered with a late charge and scored vital points to lock the score 25-25 just seconds before the final bell.

Karrar was no match against Iran’s Houman Caramei who started clobbering with the first round 15-2 lead. Caramei maintained his domination in the second round and take the score to 23-3, prompting the jury to blow the whistle.

Another Iranian Mohammad Satarpaori was far superior as he got the better of Hayatullah 26-8.

Welterweight Dur Mohammad of Greens brought joy in the Pakistani camp when he whipped Sri Lanka’s S.I. Kumara 27-10.

The Pakistani opened the bout having an upper hand as he gave Kumara a boxing lesson to lead the first round 9-3. Dur Mohammad looked comfortable against the Sri Lankan as he led the second round 14-3.

Although Kumara seemed to be recovering in the third round as he scored from three points, Dur Mohammad prevailed with a variety of punches to lead 19-6. Kumara recovered in the final round to score four more points, but it was Dur Mohammad who emerged 27-10 winner in the end.

Fasial, representing Greens, had no difficulty in dispatching Italian Ottavio de Leo 38-20 in another welterweight fight.

It was the first knock-out of the tournament when Italian middleweight Ivano Del Monti floored Egypt’s Fadel Shobban in the first round.

Results (preliminary round):

Flyweight: T.B. Harsha Kumara (Sri Lanka) bt Bijender Singh (India) walkover.

Light-welterweight: Faisal Kareem (Pakistan Greens) bt Ottavio de Leo (Italy) 38-20; Abdullah Wahaba (Syria) bt Baliyov Balli (Turkmenistan); Kurbanov Seymur (Azerbaijan) bt Abdulaziz El Mutairi (Kuwait) 12-1 RSC/OC/II; Shin Myung-Hoon (Korea) bt Maimakov. M (Kazakhstan) 24-18; Delfin Boholst (Philippines) bt Khalid Abdel Naser (Egypt) 30-11; Mahmudov Dilshod (Uzbekistan) bt Xia Wenjie (China) 18-17; Houman Caramei (Iran) bt Karrar Hussain (Pakistan Whites) 23-3.

Welterweight: Dur Mohammad (Pakistan Greens) bt S.I. Kumara (Sri Lanka) 27-10; Shi Jin Gao (China) bt Amarjeet Singh (India) walkover; Yunosov Bohzodbek (Uzbekistan) bt Kim Jung-Joo (Korea) disqualified; Zulkarnain Mustafa (Malaysia) bt Eshak Waez (Syria) 26-6 OC/II; Bashirov Aliasker (Turkmenistan) bt Nabil Sayed Zaky (Egypt) 36-20; Cao Van Truong (Vietnam) bt Mabkot Hadadi (Saudi Arabia) 25-14; Mohammad Satarpaori (Iran) bt Syed Hayatullah (Pakistan Whites) 26-8.

Middleweight: Abdurahimov Sherzod (Uzbekistan) bt Harwinder Singh (India) 25-5 OC/II; Ivano Del Monti (Italy) bt Fadel Shobban (Egypt) KO/6-1; Kraingkrai Sukkhum (Thailand) bt Nadir Khan (Pakistan Whites) 25-25 (100/91).