Saeed powers into light flyweight final

ISLAMABAD: Army’s Mohammad Saeed qualified for the final of the light flyweight category of the 37th National Boxing Championship here at the Aamir Khan Gymnasium.

Saeed accounted for Mohammad Musawar (Railways) 5-0 in a one-sided semi-final. The pencil thin boxer was seen unleashing some solid blows on Musawar during the first and second round to tilt the balance of fight in his favour.

Saeed will now meet Navy’s Dawar Khan in the decider. Dawar also made going tough for Sindh’s Shoaib Rasheed.

In the 60kg category, Army’s Ibrahim Khan knocked out Navy’s Shiraz to earn a place in the final.

In a neck-and-neck battle for place in the final of 64kg category, Ali Shair (Wapda) got better of Army’s Salman Baloch 3-2.

The victory of Wapda boxer triggered controversy with Army camp refusing to accept the verdict and threatened to leave the place.

Following aggressive fight, Naqeebullah earned a creditable 4-1 win against Army’s Mohammad Ismail to check into the final of 56kg category.

He will now meet Niamatullah (PAF) in the bantamweight category final. Niamat edged out Ahmad Afridi of Railways on points.

Results: 1. Light fly 46 - 49kg: Muhammad Saeed (Army) bt Muhammad Mussawar (Railway); Light fly 46 - 49kg: Daud Khan (Navy) bt Shoaib Rasheed (Sindh); Fly 52kg: Syed Muhammad Asif (Army) winner; Fly 52kg: Attaullah (Wapda) bt Mehroz Ali (PAF); Bantam 56kg: Naqeebullah (Wapda) bt Muhammad Ismail (Army); Bantam 56kg: Naimatullah (PAF) bt Ahmed Afridi (Sindh); Light 60kg: Muhammad Ashraf (Railway) bt Sikandar Mirza (Balochistan); Light 60kg: Ibrahim Khan (Army) bt Sheraz (Navy); Lightwelter 64kg: Adnan Hassan (PAF) winner; Light Welter 64kg: Ali Ahmed (Wapda) bt Suleman Baloch (Army).