KARACHI, Jan 10: The year 2005 saw a decline in performance of Pakistan’s more experienced pugilists specially at top level and tournaments at home were plagued by controversies.

Collecting overall six gold, four silver and seven bronze medals during the year, Pakistan started with Kings Cup in Bangkok in April where a team of six boxers went to compete. Super-heavyweight Muzaffar Iqbal won the gold, heavyweight Shaukat Ali scooped up the silver, while featherweight Meherullah won the bronze.

The same month former Commonwealth Games silver medallist light-welterweight Asghar Ali Shah and bantamweight Abid Jan managed to snatch bronze at Ahmed Comert international tournament.

In May, Qadir Khan and Sanaullah managed to win bronze medals at third Cadet international championship in Baku, Azerbaijan.

At Junior Asian championship hosted by Karachi in June, 11 boxers were fielded of which bantamweight Ali Mohammad and super-heavyweight Mir Waiz won the gold, while light-flyweight Nisar Khan and middleweight Dur Mohammad clinched the silver. Sajjad, light-welterweight Shahid Hussain, welterweight Jan Mohammad and light-heavyweight Nadir Khan were bronze medallists.

But it was even before the start of the championship that controversies erupted because of Pakistan Boxing Federation (PBF) decisions. Of 11 pugilists, at least five underachievers were fielded, brushing aside PBF’s own criteria for selection.

According to PBF, best boxers of the national junior championship in May should have been selected. Instead, setting aside its own criteria for selection, PBF chose five pugilists who failed to deliver during the national event.

Nisar Khan, who lost to Zubair in light-flyweight quarterfinals was selected, while gold medallist Khaliq Mahmood was sidelined. Aneel Hussain, the flyweight winner, was overlooked to accommodate bantamweight bronze medallist Bilal Ghazi in flyweight category. Lightweight silver medallist Sajjad Qambrani was fielded as featherweight, preferring over featherweight gold medal winner Abdul Rauf.

Middleweight bronze medallist Nadir Khan fought as light-heavyweight, while Yasir Jawaid was ignored, although he was light-heavyweight champion.

While Pakistanis somehow managed to bring laurels, they were exposed in Scotland at 4th Commonwealth championship in August where four participated and all returned after being ousted in the quarterfinals. Bantamweight Ali Mohammad, featherweight Meherullah, lightweight Hayatullah and light-welterweight Asghar Ali Shah, could not move ahead.

The saddest part of the story is that Asghar and Meher were the gold medallists at the third edition of the championship in Sri Lanka, but could not repeat their performances last year, clearly showing a decline. The results showed whenever Pakistanis vied at Asian level they delivered, but faltered when fought at European, World or Commonwealth levels.

What is more alarming is the fact that while India hardly managed to win just one gold medal at 2004 SAF Games in Islamabad, Pakistan set the ring alight, winning 10 golds. On the contrary, India won three gold medals in Scotland, while Pakistan none.

In August/September, Pakistan sent seven boxers to Vietnam for 23rd Asian championship where Meherullah, Asghar and Shaukat won the gold, while flyweight Noman Kareem secured the silver. Abid Jan, middleweight Ejaz and Mir Waiz all lost.

China’s world championship saw all four Pakistani boxers returning after crashing out in the preliminary rounds. However, the defeats at world and Commonwealth events were surprising since Pakistani boxers visited Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Russia and amateur powerhouses Cuba in 2004 as part of training tour.

It was nothing but mismanagement on the PBF which deprived Pakistan of participation in October’s World cadet championship in Liverpool. UK Deputy High Commission refused visa to Mohammad Hussain, Qadir Khan and Riaz, saying evidence would be needed to establish that they are genuine boxers. Since only Sajjad was issued the visa, PBF decided against sending any boxer to the English city.

Instead of providing UK officials with more evidence, PBF secretary Shakeel Durrani refused, saying no further proof was needed. While the PBF should have made efforts in seeking visas, interestingly, team manager Abid Hussain, a Punjab police official, left along with PBF chairman Anwar Chowdhry and Shakeel for Liverpool, to attend AIBA Business Commission meeting.

As for the domestic activity, Karachi Port Trust and Pakistan Army were declared “joint champions” of the national junior boxing championship. The decision was the result of blunder by organizers who blundered while tabulating the results.