Army retain National Elite Men’s Boxing title

KARACHI: Army retained the title of the 37th National Elite Men’s Boxing Championship which concluded at the Pakistan Sports Complex, Islamabad, on Friday.

Army collected seven gold medals and two bronze in the competitions which also served as trials for picking boxers for Pakistan’s camp for the 13th South Asian Games to be held in Nepal in December.

WAPDA, as usual, finished as the runners-up with three gold, two silver and three bronze medals. Pakistan Air Force (PAF) claimed three silver and three bronze, while Navy picked two silver and one bronze medal. Balochistan captured one silver and four bronze, Sindh claimed four bronze, while Railways bagged one silver and one bronze.

AJK picked one silver, while Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab captured one bronze each. No big upset occurred in the competitions with Pakistan’s key fighters winning their titles with enviable ease.

According to sources, on Thursday night, in the semi-finals, heavyweight boxer Mehmood-ul-Hasan of PAF and his coach Sajid Raja protested against the decision of the judges. Mehmood was seen in a video protesting in the ring. He was also seen sitting on the chair lying in the middle of the ring.

Mehmood, who has represented Pakistan in several international events, including World Championships, lost in the 91kg semi-final. Finals results: 46-49kg: Mohammad Saeed (Army) bt Daud Khan (Navy)

52kg: Mohammad Asif (Army) bt Ataullah (WAPDA)

56kg: Naqeebullah (WAPDA) bt Niamatullah (PAF)

60kg: Ibrahim Khan (Army) bt Mohammad Ashraf (Railways)

64kg: Ali Ahmed (WAPDA) bt Adnan Hassan (PAF)

69kg: Gul Zeb (Army) bt Amir Khan (WAPDA)

75kg: Saif-ul-Manan (Army) bt Tanveer (Navy)

81kg: Awais Ali Khan (Army) bt Ajmal Pathan (Balochistan)

91kg: Sanaullah (WAPDA) bt Anees Taj (AJK)

91kg+: Ahmed Ali (Army) bt Mirza Azam (PAF)