Lal had beaten Haroon, younger brother of Amir Khan in the quarter-finals but was no match for the lone Pakistan boxer left in the finals of the tournament.
“It was a very tough match compared to the earlier one,” said Waseem. “However, all the effort that I put in the training is paying off. My morale was high after realising I was up against an Indian boxer. Now I’m focussed on the final, aiming to defeat my Kenyan opponent and take home a gold medal.”
Meanwhile, there had been a rift between top brass of the Pakistan Boxing Federation (PBF) and the Quetta-based Waseem, as the federation wanted Haroon for the 52kg category.
The PBF Secretary Akram Khan said that Waseem had a better chance to perform well at the Olympics in the 49kg category and Haroon should feature in the 52kg category because he gets better training in the UK. Pakistan’s coach, Ali Baksh, thinks otherwise.
“The result of this tournament shows that Waseem is a better boxer than Haroon so I think we must prepare him for his preferred category,” said Baksh before hoping that Waseem wins a gold medal. (With additional input from PPI)
Published in The Express Tribune, December 28th, 2011.
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Haroon only because being brother of Amir Khan shouldn't be prefered over Waseem who has given better performance...