KARACHI While four Pakistanis including medal hopes Abid Ali and Naimatullah were sent packing, six reached the Benazir international boxing tournament semi-finals on a day of controversies at KPT Sports Complex on Monday.
Bantamweight Naimatullah of Pakistan Greens lost to J. Otgonbayar of Mongolia on a tie-breaker after both the boxers finished the bout tied at 1-1.
The bout was bit controversial since the Mongolian should have emerged a clear winner after the third round, landing some points-scoring shots. The bout started with the first round tied at 1-1, while Naimatullah failed to score in the second round despite having a better height which he used to defend rather than attack by keeping his rival at bay with blows in the air.
It was in the third round that Otgonbayar seemed to have landed some good shots on the local boxers but was not given points. As the bout finished on a deadlock, the jury declared the Mongolian winner on a tie-breaker which made the Pakistani coach Francisco Hernandez Roldan furious.
Abid of Pakistan Greens was, however, a clear 10-3 loser against Wessam Salamana of Syria in the featherweight quarter-final. After a cautious opening round which ended on a 0-0 stalemate, Salamana came out with full force in the second round as his ferocious jabs saw the score moving 8-2 in his favour. Looking tired in the third round, Abid again failed to match his Syrian opponent who was a deserved winner.
Another medal hope, flyweight Muhammed Waseem was unimpressive although he won 2-0 against Uzbekistan's Nazarov Olimjon.
Having a better reach, Waseem started cautiously against the Uzbek to finish the opening round deadlocked at 0-0. Finding it hard to break Olimjon's guard, all the Pakistani could do was to score a single point in the second round. The local boxer scored the second point only a minute before the end of the final round which gave him a close victory.
Nawaz Dad of Pakistan Whites thrashed Iraq's Raeed Hashim 11-0 to reach lightweight semi-finals.
The fight started with a right from Nawaz which forced the referee to give the Iraqi eight mandatory counts as the opening round ended with the local boxer leading 6-0.
Nawaz was all over the Iraqi who seemed to be a novice as neither he had footwork nor other basic skills. After a thrashing from the Pakistani, Hashim was again given eight counts in the second round which resulted in a bloody nose, while Nawaz led 8-0. The Pakistani finished off the job in the third round with another punching session which saw him walk away easy victor.
Pakistan Whites' flyweight Abdul Waheed was declared the winner after Ahmed Ahmed of Yemen was disqualified for being warned three times for grabbing the local boxer.
Light-flyweight Nadir Baloch of Pakistan Greens edged past Hussin Al Masri of Syria 9-8, Mohib Bacha of Pakistan Whites outboxed Fahmi Ali of Yemen 9-2 in another light-flyweight quarter-final.
Lightweight Adnan Hussain of Pakistan Greens had a narrow escape when he squeezed past Phonwirat Patitangkho of Thailand 1-0.
Featherweight Qadir Khan of Pakistan whites lost to Thailand's Donchai Thathi 2-0. After a defensive opening round which remained pointless, the Thai landed some power shots on Qadir which left the Pakistani with a bloody nose in second round which was led by Thathi. Qadir kept battling hard to break Thathi's guard but failed in the final round.
Chin Fa Su of Chinese Taipei defeated Aamir Khan of Pakistan Greens 9-2 in the light-welterweight.
In some controversial decisions, Yemen's Bdr Ahmad Thaya lost against Mohammad Ridhan of Singapore after referee stopped the featherweight fight because of injury in the opening round, although the Yemeni and his coaches were surprised.
Likewise, in the lightweight bout, Ibrahim Sanda of Syria was declared winner after Central African Republics' Vomitiande Huges was stopped from fighting in the first round owing to injury, although the boxer seemed well.
But the most astonishing decision came when Iraq's Omar Kifah lost to Uzbkistan's Mashhurbek Ruziyev 4-0, despite the fact that the Uzbek had a bloody face and the light-welterweight bout was stopped at least five times to wipe off his blood.
Results (quarter-finals)
Light-flyweight Nadir Baloch (Pakistan Greens) bt Hussin Al Masri (Syria) 9-8; Hassan Ali Shakir (Iraq) bt Htet Aung (Myanmar) 6-2; Mahmudov Alisher (Uzbekistan) bt Sadun Fernando (Sri Lanka) RSC/injury/III; Mohib Bacha (Pakistan Whites) bt Fahmi Ali (Yemen) 9-2.
Flyweight Abdul Waheed (Pakistan Whites) bt Ahmed Ahmed (Yemen) disqualified; Niamogui Songlnekani (Central African Republic) bt Yao Cheng Chang (Chinese Taipei) 1-0; Anan Pongkhet (Thailand) bt Vo Xuan Thanh (Vietnam) 2-0; Muhammed Waseem (Pakistan Greens) bt Nazarov Olimjon (Uzbekistan) 2-0.
Bantamweight Naimatullah (Pakistan Greens) bt J. Otgonbayar (Mongolia) 1-1 (3-2); Nguyen Van Hai (Vietnam) bt Itthiphon Phursi (Thailand) 4-3; Chin Yuan Kao (Chinese Taipei) Nassir Salem (Yemen) 1-1 (4-1); Yong Dang (China) bt M. Fasseh Al Mousa (Syria) 4-2.
Featherweight Donchai Thathi (Thailand) bt Qadir Khan (Pakistan Whites) 2-0; Mohammad Ridhwan (Singapore) bt Bdr Ahmad Thaya (Yemen) RSC/injury/I; Ketchemi Justin (Cameroon) bt B. Javkhlan (Mongolia) 4-2; Wessam Salamana (Syria) bt Abid Ali (Pakistan Greens) 10-3.
Lightweight Nawaz Dad (Pakistan Whites) bt Raeed Hashim (Iraq) 11-0; Ibrahim Sanda (Syria) bt Vomitiande Huges (Central African Republic) RSC/injury/I; Hanggai Bayin (China) bt Rfaat Mohsen (Yemen) 7-2; Adnan Hussain (Pakistan Greens) bt Phonwirat Patitangkho (Thailand) 1-0.
Light-welterweight Chin Fa Su (Chinese Taipei) bt Aamir Khan (Pakistan Greens) 9-2; Mashhurbek Ruziyev (Uzbekistan) bt Omar Kifah (Iraq) 4-0; Bilige Huricha (China) bt Simon Martial (Central African Republic) 7-1; B. Tuvshinbat (Mongolia) bt Smailia Mahaman (Cameroon) 4-2.
