Pakistan boxer Waseem reaches quarter-finals
27-year-old beats local pugilist Ri 2-1 to keep medal hopes alive.
KARACHI:
Pakistan boxer Muhammad Waseem played to his strength to defeat South Korea’s Chungil Ri 2-1 and reach the quarter-finals of the 2014 Asian Games 52kg event at the Seonhak Gymnasium on Saturday.
The 27-year-old Common-wealth Games silver-medallist is the country’s main hope for a medal in the boxing event.
Waseem, who had received a bye in the first round, faced tough competition against the local pugilist in the round of 16, but bounced back after losing the opening round 20-18 in a unanimous decision.
Earlier, Pakistan’s Sanaullah won his round-of-16 bout in the 91kg event to also qualify for the quarter-finals.
Hockey
Reigning champions Pakistan, who have already booked their place in the semi-finals, topped Pool B after winning 8-0 against Oman in their final group match.
The Greenshirts lead the goalscoring charts with 26 goals; netting 14 against Sri Lanka, two each against China and India, and then eight against Oman. Korea follow closely behind with 25 goals.
In the other match of the day, Malaysia defeated Japan 4-1 to reach the last four, India beat China 2-0 and South Korea registered a seven-goal victory over Bangladesh.
South Korea will now face India and Pakistan will take on Malaysia in their respective semi-finals encounters.
Table Tennis
The Pakistani trio of Muhammad Asim Qureshi, Muhammad Rameez and Syed Saleem Abbas Kazmi defeated Macau’s Chi Pan Che, Hoi Wa Chang, Zikand Xiao 3-2 in the first match of the preliminary round. However, they lost 0-3 to China in the following match.
Rahila Kashif, Shabnam Bilal and Aisha Iqbal Ansari overcame Mongolia’s Enkhjin Barkhas, Batkhishig Batsaikhan and Sodbolor Bat Ulzii 3-0 in the first match but failed to triumph in the second as they lost 0-3 to South Korea.
Shooting
Pakistan’s Muhammad Ayaz Tahir and Siddique Umar failed to qualify for the 50m rifle three positions men’s event after finishing 36th and 41st respectively out of a total of 44 contenders.
Wrestling
Pakistan failed to improve on their poor form in the 57kg wrestling event as Muhammad Bilal lost to Turkmenistan’s Ramil Rajapov 4-0 in the men’s freestyle competition.
Rugby
Pakistan’s rugby contingent left for Incheon on Saturday to make their debut at the Rugby Sevens event and coach Rizwan Malik is confident the team has a chance of reaching the quarter-finals.
“I can’t say that we can win a medal, but reaching the quarter-finals will be an achievement,” Malik told The Express Tribune. “We have a well-balanced side with some untested players and also a couple of experienced players. Our goal will be to either win our opening matches, or at least score as many points as possible in the preliminary rounds.”
The rugby side will open their campaign with preliminary matches on Tuesday.
Karate and Taekwondo
Pakistan’s six-member karate team and the taekwondo side also left for Incheon as their events are scheduled to start on October 1.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 28th, 2014.
Pakistan boxer Muhammad Waseem played to his strength to defeat South Korea’s Chungil Ri 2-1 and reach the quarter-finals of the 2014 Asian Games 52kg event at the Seonhak Gymnasium on Saturday.
The 27-year-old Common-wealth Games silver-medallist is the country’s main hope for a medal in the boxing event.
Waseem, who had received a bye in the first round, faced tough competition against the local pugilist in the round of 16, but bounced back after losing the opening round 20-18 in a unanimous decision.
Earlier, Pakistan’s Sanaullah won his round-of-16 bout in the 91kg event to also qualify for the quarter-finals.
Hockey
Reigning champions Pakistan, who have already booked their place in the semi-finals, topped Pool B after winning 8-0 against Oman in their final group match.
The Greenshirts lead the goalscoring charts with 26 goals; netting 14 against Sri Lanka, two each against China and India, and then eight against Oman. Korea follow closely behind with 25 goals.
In the other match of the day, Malaysia defeated Japan 4-1 to reach the last four, India beat China 2-0 and South Korea registered a seven-goal victory over Bangladesh.
South Korea will now face India and Pakistan will take on Malaysia in their respective semi-finals encounters.
Table Tennis
The Pakistani trio of Muhammad Asim Qureshi, Muhammad Rameez and Syed Saleem Abbas Kazmi defeated Macau’s Chi Pan Che, Hoi Wa Chang, Zikand Xiao 3-2 in the first match of the preliminary round. However, they lost 0-3 to China in the following match.
Rahila Kashif, Shabnam Bilal and Aisha Iqbal Ansari overcame Mongolia’s Enkhjin Barkhas, Batkhishig Batsaikhan and Sodbolor Bat Ulzii 3-0 in the first match but failed to triumph in the second as they lost 0-3 to South Korea.
Shooting
Pakistan’s Muhammad Ayaz Tahir and Siddique Umar failed to qualify for the 50m rifle three positions men’s event after finishing 36th and 41st respectively out of a total of 44 contenders.
Wrestling
Pakistan failed to improve on their poor form in the 57kg wrestling event as Muhammad Bilal lost to Turkmenistan’s Ramil Rajapov 4-0 in the men’s freestyle competition.
Rugby
Pakistan’s rugby contingent left for Incheon on Saturday to make their debut at the Rugby Sevens event and coach Rizwan Malik is confident the team has a chance of reaching the quarter-finals.
“I can’t say that we can win a medal, but reaching the quarter-finals will be an achievement,” Malik told The Express Tribune. “We have a well-balanced side with some untested players and also a couple of experienced players. Our goal will be to either win our opening matches, or at least score as many points as possible in the preliminary rounds.”
The rugby side will open their campaign with preliminary matches on Tuesday.
Karate and Taekwondo
Pakistan’s six-member karate team and the taekwondo side also left for Incheon as their events are scheduled to start on October 1.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 28th, 2014.