By Anwar Zuberi

KARACHI: National champions Army continued their supremacy when five of their six boxers

fought their way into the finals

of the all-Pakistan Amir Khan

boxing tournament at Ustad Abdullah Baloch Stadium,

Peoples Sports Complex, on Saturday.

The soldiers who were through include Kamran Khan in 60kg, Suleman Baloch in 64kg, Abdul Rauf in 69kg, Owais Ali Khan in 81kg and M. Shahbaz in +91kg.

The lone Army boxer who failed to progress was M. Imran and was outpointed by Balochistan’s Faisal Khan in the 75kg semi-final.

The soldiers are followed by the Navy whose four boxers stepped into the final. They include Daud Khan in 49kg, Asif Raza in 52kg, Aamir Khan in 60kg and Tanveer Ahmed in 75kg.

The trio of S. M. Asif in 52kg, Faisal Khan in 75kg and Asmatullah in 81kg grabbed

three places in the finals for Balochistan.

The PAF and Gilgit-Baltistan secured two spots apiece in the finals and joined by one boxer each of Sindh Greens, Sindh Whites, Rangers and Wapda.

Meanwhile, Daud Khan of the Navy and Mirza Adam of the PAF pulled off up-sets by getting the better of their respective opponents.

The former defeated international Shoaib Murad of the Rangers with a 2-1 verdict in

the 49kg while the latter outpointed Imran Shah, also of Rangers, by the identical 2-1 margin in 91kg.

Sunday is the rest day in the competition and the finals will take place on Monday.

Results (semi-finals):

49kg: Jehanzaib (Sindh Greens) bt Sheraz Kachhi (Sindh Police) 3-0; Shoaib Murad (Rangers) bt Daud Khan (Navy) 2-1.

52kg: Asif Raza (Navy) bt Faqeer Mohammad (Rangers) 3-0; S M Asif (Balochistan) bt Mehroz Ali (PAF) 3-0.

56kg: Nadir Baloch (Rangers) bt Abdul Waheed (PAF) 3-0; Shoaib Khan (Gilgit-Baltistan) bt Faizan Butt (Sindh Greens) 2-1.

60kg: Aamir Khan (Navy) bt Dawood Khan (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) 2-1; Kamran Khan (Army) bt M Arshad (Punjab) 3-0.

64kg: Suleman Baloch (Army) bt Shahid Afridi (Sindh Greens) 3-0; Adnan Hasan (PAF) bt Agha Mohammad (Balochistan) 3-0.

69kg: Aamir Khan (Wapda) bt M. Amjad (PAF) TKO first round; Abdul Rauf (Army) bt Mehboob Shah (Balochistan) 3-0.

75kg: Faisal Khan (Balochistan) bt M. Imran (Army) 3-0; Tanveer Ahmed (Navy) bt M. Afzal Khan (Gilgit-Baltistan) 3-0.

81kg: Asmatullah (Balochistan) bt Naeem Khan (PAF) 2-1; Owais Ali Khan (Army) bt Wali Khan Tareen (Sindh Greens) 2-1.

91kg: Azhar (Gilgit-Baltistan) bt Majid Ali (Navy) TKO second round; Mirza Adam (PAF) bt Imran Shah (Rangers) 2-1.

+91kg: Yasir Jamil (Sindh Whites) bt Ikramullah (Fata) KO first round; M. Shahbaz (Army) bt Hafeezullah (Gilgit-Baltistan) KO first round.

Monday’s fixtures: Finals start at 1pm.

Published in Dawn, December 20th, 2015