Amman, Jordan, March 3, 2020: A thrilling opening day at the Asia/Oceania Road to Tokyo 2020 Olympic Boxing qualifiers drew to a close on Tuesday evening - but the host nation’s first star in action was unable to proceed.
Jordan’s Hisham El-Simreen went toe-to-toe with Uzbekistan’s Fanat Kakhramonov in an absorbing 75kg contest but came off second best.
Fanat will now meet third seed Jancen Poutoa of Samoa, while El-Simreen will try his luck at the world qualifying event in Paris in May for his last shot at Olympic qualification.
“I am disappointed but came up against a very good fighter - but I have to fight the best if I am to become the best,” said El-Simreen.
“It is my dream to box at the Olympic Games and I will never give up trying. I will need to train hard now and aim for Paris.”
The event has attracted 221 boxers from 35 countries and regions with 63 Olympic spots up for grabs – 41 for the men in eight categories and 22 for the women in five categories – and runs from March 3-11.
It was a stunning evening session of 10 preliminary bouts on Tuesday.
In one of the fights of the day, Ian Bautista (Philippines) beat Japan’s Hayato Tsutsumi with a split decision in the 57kg division, while Korea’s Sangmyeong Ham advanced in the same weight with a unanimous verdict over China’s Chang Yong.
Youth Olympic Games gold medallist Atichai Phoemsap (Thailand) and John Ume (Papua New Guinea) went through unscathed in the 63kg weight, while Kim Jiniea (Korea), Tanglatihan Tuoheta Erbieke (China) and Yuito Moriwaki (Japan) booked last 16 spots in the highly competitive 75kg class.
In the men’s 81kg, Chen Daxaing completed a good evening for China by moving to the next round.
In the morning session, China’s Jun Shan beat Iraq’s Hayder Karaawi with a second-round stoppage and Syria’s Ahmad Ghousoon overcame Sri Lanka’s Rumesh Wanni-Arachchige with a unanimous decision in the -75kg class.
There were wins in the women’s -57kg weight for Sri Lanka’s Krismi Lankapurayalage and Uzbekistan’s Yodgoroy Mirzaeva.
It was also a good opening session for India with Kumar Ashish (-75kg) and Gaurav Solanki (-57kg) both winning their bouts.
The session also saw wins for Iran’s Daniyal Shahbakhsh (-57kg), Nepal’s Sanil Shahi (-63kg) and Indonesia’s Maikhel Muskita (-75kg).
Source: www.joc.jo