First Arab Juniors Boxing Championship kicks off
KUWAIT CITY, Jan 25: The First Arab Juniors Boxing Championship kicked off Thursday with a ceremony attended by Director General of the Public Authority for Sports (PAS) Dr Saqer Al-Mulla who represented the sponsor of the championship – PAS Director General Dr Hamoud Al-Fuleiteh, along with Arab Boxing Confederation Chairperson Dr Yousef Al-Kazem among other boxing officials.
Also present at the event were the heads of 11 delegations participating in the championship which started on Jan 23 and will end on Jan 29, 2020 at Suleibikhat Club where 105 boxers from different weight categories are competing.
The opening ceremony also witnessed the honoring of boxing gold medalist and reigning champion of the 13th Asian Boxing Championship Ali Al-Boulish, who was awarded an honorary permanent membership in the management board of Kuwait Boxing Federation.
The first day witnessed several matches in different weight categories with Kuwaiti boxer Rashid Al-Mutairi shining in the 52 kilograms category, making him the first Kuwaiti boxer to qualify for the final round after defeating AbdulMuqtadir Khalifa in points.
In a press statement, Al-Mulla expressed appreciation and gratitude to everyone who worked for the success of the championship including the boxing delegations, in addition to the support received from governmental agencies in the promotion of Kuwait as the hub for regional, continental and global sports championships.
The outcome of the preliminary round witnessed the victory of Dajabiri Ayman (Algeria) over Karam Saqaa (Palestine) in the 46 kilograms category, Lakashi Sultani (Algeria) defeated Muhammad Ismael (Syria) in the 48 kilograms category, Ashraf Ghazi (Syria) defeated Ameer Faraj (Egypt) in the 50 kilograms category, Jad Rajab (Palestine) beat Yazin Salahudeen (Libya) in the 54 kilograms category, Sajjad Abbas (Iraq) defeated Ibrahim Khaleel (Kuwait) in the 57 kilograms category, Muhammad Al-Sayyed (Egypt) beat Muhammad Mahdi (Syria) in the 60 kilograms category, Bansout (Algeria) defeated Qassim (Iraq) in the 63 kilograms category, Faraj Hammad (Libya) defeated Muhammad AlOthbah (Qatar) in the 75 kilograms category, and Muhammad Awwad (Egypt) defeated Yaqoub Saadallah (Kuwait) in the super middleweight category – 78 kilograms.