Waseem slams judges after losing flyweight final

Published August 3, 2014
GLASGOW: Pakistan’s Mohammad Waseem reacts as blood trickles down his face during the men’s fly (52kg) final against Andrew Moloney of Australia at the Commonwealth Games on Saturday.—AFP
GLASGOW: Pakistan’s Mohammad Waseem reacts as blood trickles down his face during the men’s fly (52kg) final against Andrew Moloney of Australia at the Commonwealth Games on Saturday.—AFP

GLASGOW: Pakistan boxer Mohammad Waseem hit back at the judges after losing the final of the flyweight category to Australian Andrew Moloney at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow on Saturday.

Waseem lost by an unanimous decision with the judges scoring for Moloney in all three rounds.

“This is crazy,” a visibly upset Waseem said after the five judges awarded Moloney the fight. “He [Moloney] cheating, the referee, the judges they’re all cheating. Not happy with silver.”

Moloney held his nerve early on to frustrate Waseem, who was keen to encourage his rival to adopt an attacking approach early on as he looked for areas to exploit.

However, the Australian proved to be too smart for Pakistan’s boxing captain as he fought a controlled fight, relying on his fast hands, calmly picked his spots to land a number of clean blows.

Moloney won the first round and although Waseem, a bronze medallist in Delhi four years ago, caught him with a nice shot to the body in the second round, Moloney got himself out of trouble to win that round.

Waseem, perhaps sensing that he was behind on the scorecards, increased the tempo to finally trouble his opponent with a series of combinations.

But Moloney opened a cut on the cheek of Waseem and despite a late rally from his opponent, had the discipline to steady, return fire and claim gold.

Published in Dawn, August 3rd, 2014

Opinion

Editorial

Ultimate price
Updated 02 Nov, 2024

Ultimate price

To dismantle culture of impunity for crimes against journalists, state must ensure that perpetrators do not go unpunished.
Mastung bombing
02 Nov, 2024

Mastung bombing

INSTABILITY continues to haunt Balochistan, as Friday morning’s bombing in Mastung has shown. At least nine...
Plane speak
02 Nov, 2024

Plane speak

DESPITE all its efforts to facilitate PIA’s privatisation, it seems the government only ended up being taken for a...
Seeking investment
Updated 01 Nov, 2024

Seeking investment

Foreign visits will be fruitless unless crucial structural, policy reforms directly affecting investors are focused.
State-backed terror
01 Nov, 2024

State-backed terror

OVER the past year or so, India’s reportedly malign activities in foreign countries have increasingly come under the radar, with
Shared crisis
01 Nov, 2024

Shared crisis

WITH Lahore experiencing unprecedented levels of smog, the Punjab government has announced a series of “green...