Army retain boxing crown amid controversial decisions

KARACHI: Army retained the crowned when they finished at the summit of the 36th National Men’s Boxing Championship which became controversial on the final day because of “biased decisions from the referees” at the WAPDA Sports Complex, Lahore, on Wednesday.

On the last day of the five-day championship, WAPDA’s Naqeebullah staged a sit-in inside in the ring when he lost his 56 kg final to Army’s Mohammad Raza.Sources told ‘The News’ that the organisers told Naqeeb to leave the ring, saying that the decision of the bout was pending and would be decided later.

Btu the Army boxer was declared the winner. The sources said that international Tanveer Ahmed (Navy, 75kg) and Adnan Hasan (PAF, 64kg) were also not happy with the referees’ decisions.

Army finished at the summit with 125 points which they grabbed by virtue of seven gold and two silver medals.They were followed by WAPDA (85 points) with three gold, three silver and two bronze medals. Pakistan Air Force (PAF) ended third with 45 points which they claimed by securing two silver and five bronze medals.

Navy (25 points), Railways (20 points), Punjab (20 points), K-Electric (5 points), Balochistan (5 points), Sindh (5 points), Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (5 points), FATA (5 points) and AJK (5 points) followed them.

Police, Islamabad and Gilgit-Baltistan failed to win a point.In 49 kg final, Mohibullah of WAPDA defeated Daud Khan of Navy to claim gold. Mohammad Naeem of Punjab and Mehroz Ali of PAF clinched bronze.

In 52kg final, Pakistan’s prolific young fighter Mohammad Asif of Army downed Ameer Hamza of WAPDA to win gold. Inamullah of AJK and Noor Ali of Railways picked bronze medals.The 56kg gold went to Mohammad Raza of Army who upstaged Naqeebullah of WAPDA in a fight marred by controversial decisions from the referee. Amir Khan of Navy and Afzal Rehman of K-Electric snared bronze medals.

In the 60kg final, gutsy international Ali Ahmed of WAPDA defeated Ibrahim of Army in a controversial manner to win gold. Sources said Ali received a deep cut on his face in the beginning of the bout. The jury stopped the bout and declared Ibrahim the winner. The decision sparked protest from WAPDA’s camp that compelled the jury to have the fight completed which eventually was won by Ali.

The bronze medals went to Mohibullah of Balochistan and Niamatullah of PAF. In the 64kg final, international Suleman Baloch of Army whacked international Adnan Hasan of PAF to secure gold. Amir Maqsood of KP and Sardar Mohammad of WAPDA claimed bronze.

The 69kg gold went to Gul Zeb of Army who got the better of Amir Khan of WAPDA. Faraz Ahmed of Sindh and Ehsanullah of Punjab got bronze medals. In the 75kg final, Zulqarnain of Army downed Tanveer Ahmed of Navy to clinch gold. Discarded international Arshad Hussain of PAF, who was also not happy with his loss in the semi-final the other day, and Railways’ Javed Akhtar snared bronze medals.

The 81kg gold went to the country’s top seed Awais Ali Khan of Army who breezed past Naeem Khan of PAF in the decider. Hamza Butt of Punjab and Niamatullah of WAPDA got bronze medals. In the 91kg final, Ahmed Ali of Army defeated Ghulam Shabbir of Railways to clinch gold.

Usman Ghani of FATA and Mehmood-ul-Hasan of PAF captured bronze medals. The +91kg gold went to Mir Wais of WAPDA who upstaged Army’s Waqar Ahmed in the final. Mirza Azam of PAF and Hafeez Ullah of Punjab clinched bronze medals. WAPDA Sports Board president Amer Ahmed graced the closing ceremony.