Niamatullah to take on Ali Ahmed in 60kg title clash

KARACHI: The country’s prolific boxers Niamatullah and Ali Ahmed set up title clash after they comprehensively defeated their respective rivals in the 60 kilogramme semi-finals of the 35th National Boxing Championship here at the KPT Sports Complex on Saturday.
The 2010 South Asian Games gold medalist Niamatullah of Pakistan Air Force (PAF), who was wrongly ignored for international events in the last one and a half years, proved that he was still the country’s leading boxer with his aggressive and shrewd display. He cruised into the final by crafting a 3-0 victory over Salman Baloch of Army in the semi-final.
In the other semi-final, Ali Ahmed of WAPDA, known for his immaculate approach, also eased past Navy’s Shehroz 3-0.
The 60kg final between Ali and Niamat will be very important as both will be striving to lift gold in a bid to ensure a place in Pakistan’s squad for the next year’s Asian qualifying round for Olympics.
In the 49kg semi-finals, international Mohib Bacha of WAPDA got the better of Navy’s Dawood 3-0, while Hasnain of Army also whacked Shehroz of Higher Education Commission (HEC) 3-0 in the other last-four clash.
Similarly, discarded international Mohammad Nisar Sona of Navy prevailed over Mohammad Farooq of Army 2-1 in the 52kg semi-final. In the other semi-final of the same weight, Syed Asif of HEC knocked out Sindh’s Badshah in the second round to advance to the final.
The major upset of the day was international Nadir Baloch of Sindh’s defeat to Naqeebullah of WAPDA 2-1 in the 56kg semi-final. However, the result of the fight has been held after Sindh lodged a protest. An organizer said that the jury would now watch the video of the same fight and then decide the result. In the other semi-final of the same weight, Farhan of Army defeated Amir Khan (Navy) 2-1.
In the 64kg semi-final, Qadir Khan of Navy outgunned Zubair Ahmed of HEC 3-0, while current international Gul Zeb of Army continued to impress as

he pulled off a 2-1 win over Sajid Farman of Sindh 2-1 in the other last-four battle of the same weight.
In the 69kg semi-finals, prolific international boxer Amir Khan of WAPDA got the better of Muneer Ahmed of Navy to set the final date with Arshad Hussain of PAF who whacked Mir Balach of Sindh 2-1 after a tough fight.
In the 75kg last-four fight, Mohammad Amjad of PAF overpowered Javed Akhtar of Railways 3-0.
Till the filing of the story, out of the 12 semi-finals which had been held, WAPDA, Navy and PAF had won three fights each. Two boxers from Army and one from HEC made it to the finals which will be held on Sunday (today).
The organising secretary Asghar Baloch told ‘The News’ that on Sunday (today), the finals would start at 3pm. He said that the Pakistan Olympic Association (POA) chief Lt General (retd) Arif Hasan would grace the closing ceremony.
Pakistan coach Arshad Hussain said that some good talent was seen during the championship. “A few talented boxers were seen who can improve,” Arshad told this correspondent. Commissioner Karachi Shoaib Siddiqui also attended the bout.