By Alam Zeb Safi
KARACHI: Pakistan, who had fielded 22 boxers, finished with a single gold, three silver and eight bronze as China lifted the trophy with Syria as runners-up at the end of the historic Shaheed Benazir Bhutto International Boxing tournament which concluded here at the KPT Benazir Sports Complex on Friday night.
China, who had played with seven boxers, extended stunning performance by capturing four gold, one silver and two bronze to finish at the top while Syrian pugilists, who also exhibited great potential, ended the show with two gold and two silver. Thailand got two gold medals while one gold each went to Mongolia and Cameroon.
The hosts were lucky to kiss a single gold as the light flyweight final was an all Pakistan affair in which short-statured Mohib Bacha, representing Pakistan Whites, beat Nadir Baloch of Pakistan Greens.
It was a tough fight and both boxers were going neck in neck, but in the last round Mohib unleashed a flurry of fantastic punches to get few quick points to clinch the gold.
In the flyweight, Abdul Waheed lost to Anan Pongkhet of Thailand after a sensational fight. The visitor was leading 1-0 at the end of the second round but Waheed, who was expected to win, put up a tough fight in the last round but in the end went 1-2 down.
Adnan Hussain was the other Pakistani boxer who had to content with silver when he conceded lightweight fight to Ibrahim Sanda of Syria 6-2.
Similarly, in the bantamweight final, Yong Dang of China was given walkover against Mongolian J Otgonbayar of Mongolia.
The featherweight gold medal went to Donchai Thathi of Thailand when he ousted Wessam Salamana of Syria 1-0. Donchai got a single point in the first round and was able to maintain it till full time with some solid defensive approach.
In the light welterweight, B Tuvshinbat of Mongolia edged past Mashhurbek Ruziyev of Uzbekistan 7-2 while Cameroon’s Mulema Joseph outclassed Ahmed B Jassem of Iraq 15-0 to get the only gold for his country.
Syria’s Moustafa Fara exhibited bewildering aggression when he overpowered Sile Hu of China 14-3 in the middleweight while China’s Fanlong Meng beat Imre Szello of Hungary in the light heavyweight final to lift the second gold for his side.
The heavyweight gold also went to China when Xuan Bao beat Moustafa Mohammad of Iraq as the latter got injured in the second round.
Heshuai Li took fourth gold for China when he was declared the winner by the jury on points after he ended the show with his rival Ghson Ahmad of Syria with 2-2.
At the end closing ceremony was held which was graced by the light welterweight world champion Amir Khan of England, the federal sports minister Mir Aijaz Hussain Jakhrani, federal minister for Inter-Provincial Coordination and former sports minister Pir Aftab Shah Jilani. Also present were the president of the Pakistan Olympic Association (POA) General (retd) Arif Hassan, secretary Abdul Khaliq Khan, the Consul General of Afghanistan Abdul Ahad and the Sindh Sports Minister Dr Muhammad Ali Shah.
The winners China were handed over a glittering trophy and $2,500, the runners-up Syria were handed over trophy and $1500. B Tushinbat of Mongolia was declared the best boxer and was given $2,500. British Pakistani world champion Amir Khan and Olympic bronze medallist Syed Hussain Shah were also given gold medals on behalf of the Pakistan Boxing Federation (PBF).
Similarly, the gold medallists were also handed over a cash prize of $500 each, the silver medallists received $250 each while the bronze medallists got $100 each.
Result:
Light Flyweight (48kg): Mohib Bacha (Pakistan Whites) bt Nadir Baloch (Pakistan Greens); Flyweight (51kg): Anan Pongkhet (thailand) bt Abdul Waheed (Pakistan Whites); Bantamweight (54kg): Yong Dang (China) bt J Otgonbayar (Mongolia); Featherweight (57kg): Donchai Thathi (Thailand) bt Wessam Salamana (Syria); Lightweight (60kg): Ibrahim Sanda (Syria) bt Adnan Hussain (Pakistan Greens); Light Welterweight (64kg): B Tuvshinbat (Mongolia) bt Mashhurbek Ruziyev (Uzbekistan); Welterweight (69kg): Mulema Joseph (Cameroon) bt Ahmed B Jassem (Iraq); Middleweight (75kg): Moutafa Fara (Syria) bt Sile Hu (China); Light Heavyweight (81kg): Fanlong Meng (China) bt Imre Szello (Hungary); Heavyweight (91kg): Xuan Bao (China) bt Mustafa Mohammad (Iraq); Super Heavyweight (+91): Heshuai Li (China) bt Ghson Ahmad (Syria).
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