PUERTO PRINCESA Jan 17: Pakistan won a gold through light-flyweight Noman Kareem while Asghar Ali Shah claimed a lightweight silver on Saturday at Asian boxing championships which allows them to go to Athens Olympics.

Light-welterweight Romeo Brin of the Philippines came out of retirement to qualify for his third Olympics.

Egged on by the hometown crowd who packed the provincial coliseum here, the 30 year-old local hero took the 64kg gold medal in a close 32-28 points decision over Dilshod Mahmudov, a former Asian Games champion from Uzbekistan.

Kazakhstan emerged team champions among the four former Soviet republics that put their fighters through to the finals, winning three golds and a silver.

The Puerto Princesa tournament, the first of three for Asia, picked 26 qualifiers for the Athens Games - the finalists in all weight classes as well as the winner of the play-offs for third place in the 48kg, 51kg, 54kg and 57kg divisions.

Only last week, Brin, who toiled without reward at the Atlanta and Sydney Olympics, was playing sandlot basketball with neighbors having retired a year earlier. He got an unexpected call-up from his old coach after the national champion in his weight class fell ill on the eve of the tournament.

"He has a lethal right straight that I tried to avoid all throughout," Brin said later of the taller and younger Mahmudov. "The crowd was a big help, urging me to go for the kill."

Brin's compatriot Violito Payla won the gold medal in the flyweight division and Christopher Camat got the silver in the middleweight class.

The Kazakh champions are Galib Ozhafazov in the 57kg, Gennadi Goulikin in the 75kg, and Beibut Shumenov in the 81kg. Pavel Stozuzhuk won the silver in the 91kg class.

Despite losing out in the overall championship, Iraq's American coach, Maurice Watkins, told AFP that the hosts' boxers were the class act of the tournament.

"They were in exceptionally good condition. They were fighting smartly, bobbing and weaving as they should. Their coaches have done a good job," Watkins said.

"The Kazakhs and the Uzbeks, they came here to fight. But the Filipinos fought with class."

Despite Mahmudov's defeat, Uzbekistan still emerged runners-up, sending five fighters to Athens.

He joined gold medallist compatriots Rustam Saidov in the super-heavyweight division and bantamweight Bahodiriv Sultanov, fellow silver medallist Sherzhoi Khuzanov in the 69kg, and featherweight Beklod Khidirov, who beat B. Sadgerel of Mongolia in the fight-off for third place.

Korea were third overall.

China lost both their final bouts, but lChina and Pakistan will host the rest of the Asian qualifiers in March and April respectively.-AFP