China and Mongolia leading after the preliminaries rounds of the Asian-Oceanian Olympic Qualification tournament
March 29th, 2016 / IBA
The last day of the AIBA Asian-Oceanian Olympic Qualification Event preliminaries took place with the Men’s Light Flyweight class (49 kg), Men’s Flyweight class (52 kg), Men’s Bantamweight class (56 kg), Men’s Light Welterweight class (64 kg), Men’s Welterweight class (69 kg) and Men’s Light Heavyweight class (81 kg) in action.
After 4 days of tough competition, 104 women and men boxers successfully qualified to the quarter-finals. China and Mongolia are amongst the most successful nations so far with nine athletes already qualified respectively, Kazakhstan follows with eight boxers while Uzbekistan remains on the race with seven boxers looking for a spot to Rio 2016.
China’s Jianguan Hu, the bronze medallist in the Doha 2015 AIBA World Boxing Championships and n°1 seed at the Flyweight class (52 kg), performed amazingly against Iran’s veteran Pouya Navi Hossein Abadi and continues his road to the last eight of the category.
Kyrgyzstan’s ASBC Asian Confederation Champion WSB boxer 24-year-old Azat Usenaliev showed his brilliant technique in his first Flyweight (52 kg) bout against Australia’s newly crowned National Champion 19-year-old Alex Winwood and easily qualified.
One of Turkmenistan’s best boxer Zarip Jumayev returned in the ring after his hand injury and has proved he is in top form as he matched victoriously against Thailand’s ASBC Asian Confederation Boxing Championships bronze medallist Tanes Ongjunta.
Kazakhstan’s Nanjing 2014 Youth Olympic Games winner 19-year-old Ablaikhan Zhussupov had to face a difficult draw in Qian’an but his precedent success over India’s Manoj Kumar gave him enough confidence to surpass Korea’s Incheon 2014 Asian Games silver medallist Hyunchul Lim, the n°1 seed in the Light Welterweight class (64 kg).
Kyrgyzstan’s AIBA World Boxing Championships quarter-finalist Ermek Sakenov, another favourite of the Light Welterweight category (64 kg), was too experienced for Iran’s Fajr Tournament winner Esmail Armash.
Turkmenistan’s Aziz Bebitov, Incheon 2014 Asian Games bronze medallist had to give his best to overcome Jordan’s new talent 19-year-old Ahmad Almatbouli in Qian’an.
For his opening bout, Tajikistan’s ASBC Asian Confederation Boxing Championships silver medallist Navruz Jafoev confidently ousted Australia’s Mathew Sheehan in the Light Heavyweight (81 kg) class.
“I have got a lot of big rivals here in the AIBA Asian- Oceanian Olympic Qualification Event in Qian’an but I know I have got enough experience to reach my goals. My Australian opponent was a good boxer with great physical conditions but my tactic worked well. Now, I am focusing only to get the Olympic spot for Rio” declared Tajikistan’s Navruz Jafoev after his contest.
Turkmenistan’s Aziz Achilov an Olympian in London 2012 Olympic Games in the Light Heavyweight class (81 kg), proved too strong for Tonga’s Australian-based Harry Lopeti with a decisive knock out in the 1st round.
Uzbekistan’s two-time Olympic Games quarter-finalist and three times medallist in the last AIBA World Boxing Championships, Elshod Rasulov dispatched the host nation’s Guojun Shi at the Light Heavyweight class (81 kg) for the first defeat of a Chinese boxer in the competition.
Indonesia’s new sensation APB boxer Light Flyweight class (49 kg) Cornelis Kwangu Langu had to wait for his first fight until the fourth day of the competition but he was really in good form to inflict a TKO in the 3rd round to his younger rival Abdallah Aldaraghmeh from Jordan.
Uzbekistan’s defending ASBC Asian Confederation Champion Hasanboy Dusmatov who has completed a perfect 9-0 record in the World Series of Boxing, began his campaign with a resounding victory over Kyrgyzstan’s Incheon 2014 Asian Games bronze medallist Turat Osmonov in their Light Flyweight class (49 kg) contest.
Japan’s newly crowned National Champion Arashi Morisaka replaced Kenji Fujita in the national squad but needed only 73 seconds to knock down United Arab Emirates’ Saab Alsadid in their Bantamweight class (56 kg) bout before meeting in quarter finals, the n°1 seed of the category Shiva Thapa of India.
Syria’s ASBC Asian Confederation Boxing Championships 19-year-old Ahmad Ghossoun who moved up recently to the Welterweight class (69 kg) demonstrated his skills as he defeated New Zealand’s Joshua Nyika while the category’s top athletes Philippines’ Felix Eumir Marcial and Uzbekistan’s Shakhram Giyasov also qualified for the next round.
