ISLAMABAD:
The second day of the Shaheed Benazir Bhutto International Boxing Championship turned out to be a disappointing one for Pakistani boxers as they were able to record only two victories in the eleven matches they played yesterday.
The first bout of the day saw a fine display by Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Mohammad Waseem, who outclassed Sri Lankan boxer Marwan Dumairiehi 8-2 in the 52kg category.
‘I’ll have to work harder’
Waseem was happy with his performance and admitted that he would have to be on top of his game in the upcoming matches at the event.
“I did not want to lose this match as I had been practising extremely hard for it for the past week,” Waseem told The Express Tribune. “Now I’ll work even harder as my upcoming matches will be quite tough, especially those against boxers from Uzbekistan, who are favourites to win the event.”
Pakistan’s second victory of the day came courtesy Qadir Khan, who beat Micheal Dodoo of Ghana 19-8 in the 60kg category. Khan admitted that despite the win, it had not been an easy match for him.
“In the first round I was a bit nervous because Dodoo was taking full advantage of his height, but I recovered in time to win the bout,” he said.
Other matches of the day saw Sri Lanka’s Mvir Senevira beat Nepal’s Sudesh Manandhar 15-12 in an entertaining fight, with the former ultimately coming out victorious in a see-saw battle. Bulgaria’s Stefan Ivanov outclassed Pakistan’s Muhammad Faheem 19-9, while Uzbekistan’s Latipov Jasurbek gave a 26-4 thrashing to Central Africa’s Grassa Thibault.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 25th, 2011.
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