Sport - Afro-Asian Games   

Qamar paves the way as Asians call the shots

By A. Joseph Antony

HYDERABAD Oct. 25 . India's Mohd. Ali Qamar paved the way to Asia's domination in the opening round of boxing competitions at the Swarnandhra Pradesh indoor stadium here on Saturday. The host continent clinched wins in seven of the eight bouts.

Qamar preferred the pointed solo punch as against Bilali Suleiman Wanjau's one-two combinations. Initially the Indian's ducking was detrimental to his cause, marring vision of his Kenyan rival. Wanjau penetrated Qamar's defences, particularly in the second round.

In the third, Qamar evaded many of the hits thrown by Wanjau and that perhaps decided the issue narrowly in his favour.

Also in the lightfly category, Philippines' Harry S. Tanamor epitomised the superiority of technique. While letting loose a barrage of blows, Tanamor left Joseph Hilongwa Jermia with little room to react. The Fillipino defended well too, as in the third round when his Namibian opponent went on the offensive right from the gong.

The dreadlocked Jermia's jab-jab-one-two routine failed to make the desired impact. As AP's boxing coach Chiranjeevi observed, Tanamor's punches were crisp and clean cut.

Serik Sikymbayev's searching left steered Jolly Katongole to the corner where the former pounded the latter frequently. In response, Katongole from Uganda threw the odd punch, which however did little to undermine the Kazhak's superiority.

Dilshod Mahmudov worked with the precision of a surgeon, meticulous in his methods. Content to wait and watch initially, the Busan Asian gold medallist's blows were few and far between but landed with telling impact on Nigeria's Ahmed Sadiq. To give the Abuja silver medallist his due, he had Mahmudov buckling with a blow, but the Uzbek regained his feet swiftly to record an authoritative win.

Esayas Getaneh's coach called off the contest in the very first round of the duel against Jong Sub Baik. The elder Ethiopian perhaps feared a punishment for his ward from Busan silver medallist, Sub Baik.

The results:

Lightfly (upto 48 kgs): Mohd. Ali Qamar (Ind) bt Bilali Suleiman Wanjau (Ken) 14-13, Harry S. Tanamor (Phi) bt Joseph Hilongwa Jermia (Nam) 21-10, Jolly Katongole (Uga) lost to Serik Sikymbayev (Kaz) 18-23.

Lightweight (57 to 60 kgs): Dilshod Mahmudov (Uzb) bt Ahmed Sadiq (Nig) 6-2, Bongani Mahlangu (SA) lost to Ramanand (Ind) 8-26, Jong Sub Baik (Kor) bt Esayas Getaneh (Eth) retired in round I.

Middleweight (69 to 75 kgs): Yerbol Dutbayev (Kaz) lost to Nabil Kassel (Alg) 11-27, Daniel Nyambwena Shisia (Ken) lost to Utkirbek Haydarov (Uzb) 10-18.

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