Boxers Zohaib, Naqeebullah qualify for National Games finals

KARACHI: The Asian bronze medallist Zohaib Rasheed and solid fighter Naqeebullah were among those who on Wednesday blasted their way into the finals of the boxing event of the 34th National Games being held at the Ibrar Hussain Boxing Hall at Qayyum Stadium in Quetta.

Zohaib from Navy did a fine job to beat Mohammad Faheem of Army in the men’s minimum weight category (46-48kg) semi-final. It was a tough fight with Lyari-born Zohaib ensuring a 4-1 win. Zohaib had lost to Faheem in the final of the 40th National Boxing Championship in Karachi last March.

Zohaib has to his credit bronze medals in the Asian Senior Championship and Asian Under-22 Championship and is regarded as the top boxer of the country. Meanwhile, in the other semi-final of the same weight category Mohammad Ayub of PAF downed Tabish of Sindh 3-2 to make it to the final.

In the men’s flyweight (48-51kg) semi-finals Ataullah of WAPDA beat Huzban of Sindh 5-0 and Sajid Rasheed, who belongs to Navy and is the brother of Zohaib Rasheed, defeated Talha of Army 4-3 after the decision was reviewed by the technical committee.

In the men’s bantamweight (51-54kg) semi-finals Mohammad Qasim of Army downed Jalal Uddin of WAPDA 5-0 and Noor Ali of Balochistan beat Samama Rehman of Punjab 5-0. In the featherweight (54-57kg) semi-finals Naqeebullah of WAPDA downed Asmatullah of HEC 5-0 and Zakir Hussain of Army whacked Sikandar Raza of Police 5-0 to reach the finals.

In the men’s lightweight (57-60kg) semi-finals Shahab Uddin of PAF defeated Kaleem of WAPDA 4-1 and Ibrahim of Army got the better of Tabarak Ali Zai of Navy 5-0.

In the men’s light welterweight semi-finals Kamran Abdul Wahab of PAF knocked out Mohammad Ijaz of KP in the first round while Ibrar Ali of Army defeated Faisal Hanif of Navy 5-0 to make it to the finals.

In the women’s minimum weight category (45-48kg) semi-finals Nimra of WAPDA beat Sehrish Shehzad of PAF 4-1 and Humna Mumtaz of HEC downed Natasha Urooj of Navy via first round RSC to make it the finals. In the women’s light flyweight (48-50kg) semi-finals Sahar Atif of Army knocked out Sana Atif of Punjab in the second round while Bushra Akhtar of PAF whacked Maryam of Navy 4-1. In the women’s flyweight (50-52kg) semi-finals Khalida Bibi of Balochistan defeated Sania Mustafa of Punjab after the latter abandoned the fight in the second round.

Meanwhile, in the men’s handball event Army blasted their way into the final after beating Punjab 40-26 in the semi-final.In the women’s handball event Army and WAPDA qualified for the final. Wapda downed Punjab 42-9 while Army conquered Higher Education Commission (HEC) 39-18 in the semi-finals. The final and third place match will be held on Thursday (today).

Army, Balochistan enter football semis

Army and Balochistan qualified for the semi-finals from their respective groups after Wednesday’s matches outcome of the men’s football event of the 34th National Games at Ayub Stadium in Quetta. Army crushed defending champions Wapda 3-0 to qualify for the semi-finals from Group A.

Ali Raza hit double for Army, scoring in the 80th and stoppage time while Ansar Abbas, a discarded international, earlier, took lead for Army with a nice strike in the sixth minute.

Army with four points stood first in Group A.

Meanwhile from Group B Balochistan confirmed their semi-finals berth despite a 1-2 loss at the hands of Navy.

Both Navy and Balochistan finished with three points each with the latter qualifying for the semi-finals on the basis of better goal average.

Zunair and Rizwan struck in the 17th and 73rd minute to put Navy 2-0 ahead. Tahir struck for Balochistan in the 74th minute.

In the women’s football event Wapda defeated Police 5-0 with Kainat Gul scoring a double. She was also joined on the scoresheet by Mehnaz, Sanober and Aliya Sadid with a goal apiece.

In the other clash HEC crushed Balochistan 6-0 with Anmol scoring four goals. Sajina and Mehreen struck one goal apiece.

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