Boxing: Wasim one win away from Olympics dream

Boxer needs to reach semis to seal his place at the mega event.

KARACHI:

Pakistan’s realistic hope of making it to the boxing event of the London Olympics – Muhammad Wasim – reached the quarter-finals of the Asian qualifying event in the 52-kg category with a 15-9 win over Turkmenistan’s Zarip Jumayev in Kazakhstan yesterday.

Wasim needs to beat Mongolia’s Tugstsogt Nyambayar tomorrow to confirm his place in London.

Meanwhile, Naimatullah and Haider Riaz were sent out on the second day. In the 56-kg bout, Naimatullah lost 15-6 to Thailand’s Worapoj Petchkoom while Haider Riaz was beaten 21-6 by Turkmenistan’s Serdar Hudayberdiyev. This was Riaz’s second international event after his first-round exit in the Shaheed Benazir Bhutto International Boxing tournament.

Pakistan’s Abbas Zulqarnain will take on Byamba Tuvshinbat today.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 8^th, 2012.