Punjab dominate National Women Boxing

LAHORE: Punjab women were the winners as the closing ceremony of 1st National Women Boxing Championship 2018 was held at Wapda Sports Complex on Tuesday.

Punjab’s Rukhsana Parveen and Arzoo Sharif won gold medals in their respective weight categories which also fell curtain on the event in which competitions in three weight categories were held. Razia Bano of Sindh also won gold medal.

In the light weight (57-60 kg) Rukhsana Perveen of Punjab got gold, Memona Bibi of Balochistan grabbed silver while Ammara of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) and Iqra of Islamabad clinched bronze medals.

In the middle weight (69-75kg), Arzoo Ashraf of Punjab claimed gold, Sofia Javed of KP secured silver while Sadiqa of Balochistan got bronze.In the event over 130 pugilists from across the country are showing their worth.

In the flyweight (48-51kg) Razia of Sindh got gold, Khoushleem Bano of Punjab secured silver while Tayyaba Bano of Islamabad and Safeena of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa secured bronze medals. Aamir Jan, Secretary Sports Board Punjab graced this occasion as chief guest. Khalid Mahmood, President Pakistan Boxing Federation/Secretary General, POA and Saqlain Zahoor Raja, Director General, Wapda Sports Board were also present on the occasion.

Meanwhile nine boxers from Army and six from Wapda qualified for the finals National Men’s Boxing Championship, Two each from Navy and Pakistan Air Force (PAF) and one from Railways made it to the title clash on the day which did not see any major upset. No knock-out win was also seen from any fighter on the day.

In the 49kg semifinals Navy’s Daud Khan defeated Mohammad Naeem of Punjab while Mohibullah of Wapda got the better of Mehroz Ali of PAF to make it to the finals.In the 52kg semi-finals, Ameer Hamza of WAPDA whacked Inamullah of Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Pakistan’s Olympics hope Syed Mohammad Asif of Army defeated Noor Ali of Railways to set final clash.

In the 56kg pre-finals, Naqeebullah of WAPDA beat Amir Khan of Navy while Mohammad Raza of Army got the better of Afzal Rehman of K-Electric. This is after long time that K-Electric have revived its team after disbanding it a few years ago.