KARACHI: National champions Pakistan Army made their mark when their five more pugilists fought their way into the semi-finals of the all-Pakistan Amir Khan boxing tournament at Ustad Abdullah Baloch Stadium, Peoples Sports Complex, on Friday.

The five who did the soldiers proud include Kamran Khan (60kg), Salman Baloch (64kg), Abdul Rauf (69kg), Awais Ali Khan (81kg) and M. Shahbaz (+91kg).

Mohammad Imran had already advanced into the 75kg semis the other day.

PAF, the national championship runners-up, whose four boxers made the last four on Thursday, also took their tally to six following success of Qadir Khan (64kg) and Tanveer Ahmed (75kg) to share the top slot.

Meanwhile, three more upsets were recorded on Friday. Local prodigy Shahid Afridi shocked experienced Sajid Farman of the Rangers as the former won 2-1 to advance into 64kg last four.

In the next bout of the same category, Qadir Khan of Pakistan Navy stunned Adnan Hassan 3-0.

Wali Khan Tareen did Sindh Greens proud when he registered the day’s third upset by technically knocking out Navy’s Dur Mohammad in the first round to sneak into the 81kg semi-finals.

According to the organisers, two-time former world champion Amir Khan in whose name Pakistan Rangers Sindh is organising the event, arrived in Islamabad from London on Friday.

He is due to arrive here by late Saturday evening and will grace the occasion at the finals on Monday.

Results:

Quarter-finals:

60kg: Kamran Khan (Army) bt Naveed Khan (Fata) TKO first round; Raees Khan (Wapda) bt M. Arshad (Punjab) 3-0.

64kg: Salman Baloch (Army) bt Noor Mohammad (Railways) TKO second round; Shahid Afridi (Sindh Greens) bt Sajid Farman (Rangers) 2-1; Qadir Khan (Navy) bt Adnan Hassan (PAF) 3-0; Agha Mohammad (Balochistan) bt Mohammad Iqbal (Sindh Police) 3-0.

69kg: M. Amjad (PAF) bt Naeem Jan (Sindh Greens) 3-0; Amir Khan (Wapda) bt Shehzad (Sindh Whites) TKO first round; Abdul Rauf (Army) bt Mohammad Ahmed (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) KO third round; Mehboob Shah (Balochistan) bt Khurram (Rangers) 3-0.

75kg: Tanveer Ahmed (Navy) bt Ubaidullah (Sindh Greens) 3-0; M. Afzal Khan (Gilgit-Baltistan) bt Faraz Ahmed (Islamabad) 3-0.

81kg: Wali Khan Tareen (Sindh Greens) bt Dur Mohammad (Navy) TKO first round; Awais Ali Khan (Army) bt Shabbir Baloch (Sindh Whites) 3-0.

91kg: Imran Shah (Rangers) bt Amanullah (Balochistan) 3-0; Mirza Azam (PAF) bt M. Yousuf Pathan (Sindh Greens) 2-1.

+91kg: Yasir Jamil (Sindh Whites) bt Ubaid (Sindh Greens) 3-0; Ikramullah (Fata) bt Mohammad Tahir (K Electric) 3-0; Ahmed Shah (Balochistan) bt Hafeezullah (Gilgit-Baltistan)2-1; M. Shehbaz (Army) bt Tariq Nawaz (Navy) 3-0.

Saturday’s f ixtures:

Bouts start at 2:00pm.

Published in Dawn, December 19th, 2015