Saadi stumbles after twin wins to bow out of Paris event

KARACHI: Pakistan’s star karateka and Olympics hope Saadi Abbas won two major fights before losing a vital third round battle to face exit in the Karate 1-Premier League in Paris on Friday night.

The Dubai-based fighter started his -75 kilogramme campaign well when he defeated Djozic Mensur of Bosnia Herzegovina 5-2. The Bosnian is ranked 53 in Olympics rankings, while Saadi holds 23rd spot.

In the second round, Saadi pulled off a huge win when he outsmarted a much better fighter Ken Nishimura of Japan, who occupies third spot in Olympic ranking. It was a balanced fight as both fighters offered tough resistance to each other before Saadi prevailing in the end. It was expected that Saadi would be able to go for a medal following such a glorious win over the Japanese but it did not happen. The Lyari-born fighter suffered 5-8 defeat at the hands of low-ranked Gonzalez Lavin of Chile to miss the chance of finishing at a decent spot in the competitions in which the world’s best crop are competing. Gonzalez’s Olympic ranking is 71.

But still the two wins will fetch good points for the Pakistani fighter who is aiming for an Olympic seat. “My start was very good as I beat the Bosnian fighter. And then I defeated strong Japanese fighter to whom I lost twice before this fight,” Saadi told ‘The News’ from Paris.

“But the upset I faced was against the Chile fighter. I did not get rest after beating Ken. The Chilean was around six feet, five inches tall. Whenever I used to break the defence he attacked as it was easy for him due to his long reach. But still I was playing mainly in that fight as my opponent was just defending throughout,” he said.

“I am not happy with the way I played against the Chilean. And one of the factors was that he was a new fighter and I had not read him. After beating the Japanese I was confident that I will go for a medal. At one stage the fight was evenly poised at 5-5 against the Chilean but I made a mistake that hurt me. Still not satisfied but it was in my luck,” he added.

Saadi’s next destination is his adopted city Dubai where he will compete in the Karate 1-Premier League to be held from February 14-16.