Zohaib beats UAE boxer to reach Asian Games quarters

LAHORE: As was expected Pakistan’s premier boxer Zohaib Rasheed on Thursday blasted his way into the quarter-finals when he conquered Sultan Alnuiami of the UAE in the 46-51 kilogramme round of 16 in the boxing event of the 19th Asian Games on Thursday.

The Asian bronze medallist Zohaib won the fight 5-0. He will play his quarter-final against an Uzbek fighter on October 3. “My opponent was tough but I played with a plan and defeated him,” Zohaib told ‘The News’ after his fine win.

“I am confident to win the next fight also. I have worked hard and God will help me,” the Lyari-born boxer said. In the women’s 54-57kg round of 16, Fatima Zehra will Meet Sitora Turdibekova of Uzbekistan in the 54-57 kg round of 16 on Friday (today).

Pakistan’s Mohammad Qasim qualified for the pre-quarter-finals after beating Nawwaf Alzahmi of the UAE 5-0 in the round of 32 the other day. Ibrahim, however, exited in the second round.

Taekwondo: Pakistan’s last hope Omar Hamza Saeed fell in the +80kg quarter-finals when he was beaten by Samaiyl Duisebay of Kazakhstan 2-0 with the round scores being 6-5, 9-3.

Earlier, Hamza got off to a fine start when he downed Qatar’s Wadhah Alahmed 2-0 in the round of 16. The round score was 6-0, 4-2 in Hamza’s favour. With this Pakistan’s taekwondo journey ended without any medal. Swimming: Pakistani swimmers continued to flop on Thursday as well.

In the men’s 50m butterfly heats, carrying 40 swimmers, Mohammad Ahmed Durrani finished at the 32nd spot with a time of 27.10. Azhar Abbas, in this heat, ended at the 36th spot with a time of 28.61.

In the men’s 4x400m freestyle relay, featuring 14 nations, Pakistan finished at the 13th spot with a time of 3:50.13. Pakistan was represented in the relay by Mohammad Amaan Siddiqui, Mohammad Ahmed Durrani, Mohammad Hamza Anwar and Azhar Abbas.

In the women’s 50m butterfly heats, featuring 32 swimmers, Pakistan’s Ameena Ameer Qadri finished at the 30th place by clocking 30.69.

Table Tennis: In the women’s singles round of 32 at the Gonshu Canal Sports Park Gymnasium, Hoor Fawad lost to China’s Yingsha Sun 4-0 with the set score being 11-1, 11-1, 11-0 and 11-2.

In the men’s doubles round of 32, Tajikistan, featuring Afzalkhon Mahmudov and Ubaydullo Sultonov, defeated Pakistan’s pair of Shah Khan and Faizan Zahoor 3-1 with the game scores being 12-10, 11-4, 4-11, 11-8.

In women’s doubles round of 32, South Korea defeated Pakistan 3-0 with the game scores of 11-0, 11-0 and 11-1. Hoor Fawad and Perniya Zaman Khan represented Pakistan while Korea was represented by Kumyong Kim and Songgyong.

In the men’s singles round of 32, Chinese Taipei’s Yun Ju Lin downed Faizan Zahoor 4-0 with the game scores of 11-7, 11-2, 11-1, 11-5.

Shooting: Pakistan’s shooter Gulfam Jospeh failed to qualify for the finals of the 10m air pistol event as he finished at the 17th spot among 57 contestants in the qualification phase.

Gulfam scored 575-18x (96,96, 92, 97, 97, 97).

Bridge: In the men’s team round robin 1-5, Pakistan defeated Singapore. Pakistan then downed Bangladesh in the round robin 1-6 before going down to Chinese Taipei in the round robin 1-7.

In the mixed team round robin 1-5, Pakistan lost to Hong Kong.

Pakistan then were beaten by Korea in the round robin 1-6 before losing to China in the round robin 1-7.