LAHORE, Sept 4 Pakistan lost star featherweight boxer Mehrullah Lassi in the preliminary round of the 15th AIBA World Boxing Championship in Milan, Italy.

According to the information received here, Pakistan's only hope now remains in the form of two younger boxers, namely, Mohammad Waseem (51kg) and Rashid Fateh (48kg).

Former Asian champion Mehrullah Lassi returned to the international arena after a three-year gap as he was earlier suspended for two years after testing positive for dope during the South Asian Games at Colombo, Sri Lanka, in 2006.

Mehrullah's comeback bout was with Sandro Schaer of Germany and he lost it by 11-1.

Meanwhile, Mohammad Waseem won his fight in the flyweight (51kg) category against Tajikistan's Oraz Avzalshoey by 13-7. Waseem triumphed after the third round. His next bout is against Cuba's Aleksander Aleksandrov.

Pakistan's second medal hope Rashid Fateh too got ahead in the first round and he will be taking on Daniel Matellon of Cuba in his second encounter on Sunday.