Four Asian boxers are guaranteed medallists in the Islamic Solidarity Games in Baku

The first part of the quarter-finals and the last day of the preliminaries were held in the boxing tournament of the Islamic Solidarity Games in Baku, Azerbaijan. Four young Asian male boxers from Kazakhstan, Iraq, Turkmenistan and Syria are already medallist in the Islamic Solidarity Games.

Lightweight (60kg):
Kazakhstan’s Sultan Zaurbek was silver medallist in the 2014 AIBA Youth World Boxing Championships in Sofia and he is now enough strong in the elite level to win medals. The 21-year-old talent controlled the first two rounds against Uzbekistan’s WSB boxer Ulugbek Dusmuradov and finally his hand was raised after the final bell. Zaurbek’s triumph meant he became the first medallist in the boxing tournament of the Islamic Solidarity Games.
Turkmenistan’s National Champion and National Cup winner Hursand Imankuliyev Kyrgyzstan’s developed well since his youth ages and defeated Kyrgyzstan’s Erzhan Turgunbekov by unanimous decision which meant he was able to get a guaranteed medal in the Islamic Solidarity Games. Asia’s third medal in this category was achieved by Iraq’s experienced Ammar Jabbar Hassan Karbalai who eliminated Pakistan’s National Champion Naimatullah in the third competition day.

Welterweight (69kg):
Kazakhstan’s ASBC Asian Confederation Youth Boxing Championships bronze medallist Ilya Ochkin won his debuting contest against Morocco’s new face Abdelkabir Bellassek but he had to do his very best to beat his North African rival in Baku. Qatar’s Rio 2016 Olympian Thulasi Tharumalingam used his strength to eliminate Kyrgyzstan’s Esen Rakhmatov who was a competitive rival for the experienced boxer.
Uzbekistan’s current National Champion in this weight class Bobo-Usmon Boturov finally received the right to show his skills in the international level and he dominated his opening contest against Palestine’s Ahmed Harara winning the bout by large margin of difference. Asia’s fourth boxer who advanced to the quarter-final of the category was Syria’s ASBC Asian Confederation Boxing Championships bronze medallist Ahmad Ghossoun following his clear success over Algeria’s Hichem Metidji.

Heavyweight (91kg):
Syria proved top performance in the last edition of the ASBC Asian Confederation Boxing Championships in Tashkent where the country claimed two medals and four quota places for the Hamburg 2017 AIBA World Boxing Championships. Alaaldin Ghossoun claimed bronze medal in Tashkent and continued his winning path in the quarter-final of the Islamic Solidarity Games against an experienced rival, Incheon 2014 Asian Games bronze medallist Jordan’s Ihab Al-Matbouli. Ghossoun, who moved up to the heavyweight (91kg) only in the recent months, is now guaranteed medallist in Baku.