Faheem exits Olympics qualifier despite strong fight in Bangkok

LAHORE: Pakistan on Friday began its Paris Olympics World Qualifier 2 journey on a disappointing note when Mohammad Faheem faced exit at the first hurdle in Bangkok despite offering good resistance to his Irish opponent.

Faheem, who made his international debut, went down to Ireland’s Sean Mari 4-1 in the 51 kg preliminaries.

“Faheem played really well on his debut and I hope he will develop and will do well in future,” a senior official of Pakistan Boxing Federation (PBF) told The News.

“The issue is that our boxers don’t get the kind of sparring which is needed during training. If we provide them with solid sparring then our boys have the capability to impress,” the official said.

Pakistan’s New York-based fighter Jahanzeb Rizwan will now face Mohd Aswan Bin Che Azmi of Malaysia in the 71 kg preliminaries on Saturday (today).

There are 70 boxers in this weight category which offers five Olympics seats. Rizwan directly came to Bangkok from New York. He will also make his international debut.