Nadir edges Naimat to win National Boxing gold

KARACHI: Nadir Baloch, the talented international boxer representing Sindh Rangers, grabbed gold medal after beating the 2010 South Asian Games gold medallist Niamatullah of Pakistan Air Force (PAF) in the 56 kilogramme final of the National Ranking Boxing tournament which concluded here at the PSB Coaching Centre on Saturday.
It was one of the toughest battles of the two-day event that saw both the boxers giving tough time to each other. Nadir, who was part of Pakistan’s squad in the last year’s Glasgow Commonwealth Games and Incheon Asian Games, looked superior in technique as compared to Niamatullah — who was the only Pakistani boxer to lift gold in the Dhaka South Asian Games four years ago.
Meanwhile, in the other close fight of the two-day slots, Abid Jan of PAF outgunned Sardar Mohammad of WAPDA in the 60 kilogramme final after a gruelling fight.
The 69kg final was also full of life with both international Amir Khan of WAPDA and Arshad Hussain of PAF playing with maturity before Amir wrapping up the victory in the end.
The final bout of the light flyweight between Mohib Bacha of WAPDA and Jehanzeb of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was also enthralling. However Mohib Bacha, who was very selective in his approach, ultimately emerged as winner.
In the 52kg final, Mohammad Nisar of Navy defeated Mohammad Nadeem of Army to win gold. In the 64kg, Adnan Hussain of PAF got the better of Naqeebullah of K-Electric to secure gold.
In the 81kg, Mohammad Atif of Army defeated Azam Mirza of PAF to grab gold, while in the +90kg Shahbaz Ahmed of Army whacked Mohammad Nadeem of WAPDA to claim gold medal.
Four boxers including Mohammad Waseem, Ali Ahmed, Gul Zeb and Awais, who could not feature in the event, are expected to join the camp on Monday (tomorrow). These boxers have recently returned from Korea where they underwent a fortnight training.
“We plan to conduct bouts of these boxers when they will join the camp,” Pakistan coach Ali Bakhsh told ‘The News’ on Saturday.
Ali said he would finalise a ten-member squad for the Asian Boxing Championship in a few days.
“We will select the boxers for the continental event purely on merit,” he said.
The Asian Championship will be held in Thailand from August 26 to September 5. The event will serve as qualifiers for the World Championship which would be hosted by Qatar in Doha in October. The World Championship also serves as qualifying round for the 2016 Rio Olympics.