July 11, 2006	Tuesday	Jumadi-ul-Sani 14, 1427

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KARACHI, July 10: Pakistan’s Asghar Ali Shah for the second time survived a scare in beating Iran’s Saeed Norouzei before reaching Green Hill Cup boxing semi-finals along with four compatriots at KPT Sports Complex on Monday.

Shaukat Ali and Muzaffar Iqbal had smooth sailing as they punched their way into the quarterfinals after victories against Ahmed Ismail Mohd of Egypt and Jarrah Al Hajeri of Kuwait.

Pakistan had mixed fortunes as altogether seven local boxers moved ahead, while five crashed out of the competition including promising Ali Mohammad. Nisar Khan, Mohammad Waseem, and Bakht Hussain were other Pakistanis to lose.

Lightweight Asghar of Pakistan Greens, who managed a 28-23 victory against Turkmenistan’s Bayram Annamamedov in pre-quarterfinals, had a tough time against Norouzei who bowed down 34-37 despite a late charge.

The opening round proved a close contest as Asghar led 8-5, but it was the second round which produced fireworks as the local hero was fully stretched, Norouzei fighting back hard to trail 16-18.

There was yet more entertainment in the third round as both traded punch for punch but it was Asghar who led the round 28-26. The Iranian was not a pushover as he kept displaying his resilience in the final round but finally lost 34-37.

In another thrilling fight of the day, bantamweight Abid Ali of Greens emerged a deserved 24-20 winner against a resilient Sri Lankan M.D. Wanniarchchi.

Both adopted a cautious approach in the first round in which the Pakistan led 6-4. Wanniarchchi proved his mettle when he staged when he earned points in the dying moments of the second round but Abid landed more punches to lead 12-10.

The third round saw most ferocious fight between the two, but Abid landed more telling blows to overpower the Sri Lankan and led 18-13.

Wanniarchchi ran out of stamina in the final round after he lost his gumshield seconds before the end. Abid took full advantage of the situation and accumulated vital points to win the bout.

Featherweight Mehrullah had no difficulty in sending Indian Amandeep Singh packing after an outright 25-5 triumph.

Mehrullah scored at will against his rival and led the first round 14-3. While Amandeep could only score two more points in the second round, Mehrullah mustered 23 to clinch the the bout.

Heavyweight Shaukat clobbered Ismail Mod which resulted in Egyptian retiring after a head injury in the second round when the score was 20-9 in favour of the local boxer.

Muzaffar was more punishing than his heavyweight compatriot Shaukat as he pounded Ali Hajeri in the first round 7-0 to win the super-heavyweight encounter.

Noor Badshah of Whites gave Saudi Arabia’s a Ali Sadd Dhis a boxing lesson when he outscored the Arab 27-7 in the third round.

Maintaining an upper hand from the outset, Noor led the first round 13-3 and applied all kinds of power punches to lead the second round 26-7. The Pakistani won soon after scoring the first point of the third round.

Faisal Kareem of Greens moved ahead without throwing a single punch as he was awarded a walkover against India.

It was a disappointing loss for Pakistan when bantamweight Ali Mohammad lost to Korea’s Han Soon-Chul 48-23.

Soon-Chul took full advantage of better reach and got off to a flying start to lead the opening round 10-5. Ali, however, fought hard in the second round but trailed 12-21 as lanky Korean prevailed over the local pugilist.

Soon-Chul dominated the third round by leading 30-18 as Ali fought hard to remain out of his opponent’s reach. The Korean finished off scoring points at will to notch-up a big margin victory.

Results:

Pre-quarterfinals:

Heavyweight: Shaukat Ali (Pakistan Greens) bt Ahmed Ismail Mohd 20-9 H/retired/II.

Super-heavyweight: Muzaffar Iqbal (Pakistan Greens) bt Jarrah Al Hajeri (Kuwait) 7-0.

Quarterfinals:

Light-flyweight: Harry Tanamor (Philippines) bt Nisar Khan (Pakistan Whites) 24-20; Wael Slaiman (Syria) bt Sufyani Abdullah (Saudi Arabia) 31-11; Hong Moo-Won (Korea) bt Kaew Pongpratoon (Thailand) 27-24; Sadegm Faragzabh (Iran) bt Mohammad Waseem (Pakistan Greens) 25-5 OS/II.

Flyweight: Violito (Philippines) bt Noman Kareem (Pakistan Greens) 27-20; Holmuratov Ulugbek (Uzbekistan) bt Hong You (China) 26-12; Lee K-Sung (Korea) bt T.B. Harsha Kumara (Sri Lanka) 26-6 OS/II; Noor Badshah (Pakistan Whites) bt Ali Saad Dhis (Saudi Arabia) 27-7 OS/III.

Bantamweight: Joan Tipon (Philippines) bt Bijender Singh (India) 26-12; Doniyovov Tulashboy (Uzbekistan) bt Mohammad Malek (Saudi Arabia) 27-9/KO/III; Abid Ali (Pakistan Greens) bt M.D. Wanniarchchi (Sri Lanka) 24-20; Han Soon-Chul (Korea) bt Ali Mohammad (Pakistan Whites) 48-23.

Featherweight: Mehrullah (Pakistan Greens) bt Amandeep Singh 25-5; Sultonov Bahodirjon (Uzbekistan) bt Ibrahim Al Manie (Saudi Arabia) 17-3 RSC/II; Lee Do-Jae (Korea) bt A.K.G. Sameer (Sri Lanka) 29-10; Teengthong (Thailand) bt Bakht Hussain (Pakistan Whites) 33-6.

Lightweight: Asghar Ali Shah (Pakistan Greens) bt Saeed Norouzei (Iran) 37-34; Wang Yizui (China) bt India walkover; Yaser Shekhan (Syria) bt Genbert Basadre (Philippines) 20-19; Suvankulov Jahongir (Uzbekistan) bt W.W.R.G Weligalla (Sri Lanka) 26-14; Fasial Kareem (Pakistan Greens) bt India walkover; Abdullah Wahaba (Syria) bt Kurbanov Seymur (Azerbaijan) 24-21.