Zohaib, Ibrahim get bye in Asian Games first round

LAHORE: Pakistan’s highly gutsy boxer and Asian bronze medallist Zohaib Rasheed and Ibrahim got bye in the first round as draws of the 19th Asian Games boxing competitions were held at Hangzhou late Friday night.

Zohaib, who will compete in the 51 kilogramme, got bye in the preliminaries first round and he will on September 28 face the winner of the fight between UAE’s Sultan Alnuaimi and Laos’s Vanesy Heuangthisouan. This fight will be held on Monday (tomorrow).

Meanwhile, Ibrahim got bye in the first round of the preliminaries of 63.5 kilogramme competitions. He will on September 27 meet the winner of the fight between Lee Jongseung of Korea and Al-Sarray Al Qasim Hamdan of Iraq.

This will be the first international fight of Ibrahim.

In the 57 kilogramme preliminaries, Mohammad Qasim will meet UAE’s Nawwaf Alzahmi on September 26.

In the 57 kilogramme, Fatima Zehra will lock horns with an Uzbekistan fighter on September 29.

Pakistan’s coach Arshad Hussain said that the draws were not easy. However, he said that he expects a lot from Zohaib Rasheed.

“It's tough draws. Fatima’s opponent is very tough. You know Koreans are also tough and so are the Uzbeks but I expect Zohaib will deliver in the event.

He has trained hard and has improved his skills. He has created power in his punches,” said Arshad, a former Olympian.

The Asian Games also serve as Olympics Qualifiers for boxing.