While Thai appeared to score points at will throughout the bout and peppered the Pakistani with powerful jabs, surprisingly Sajjad was declared winner. Interestingly, Sajjad was selected although he was a lightweight silver medallist of the national championship which served as trials for team’s selection.

Thailand manager-cum-coach Somchok Meamutr reacted sharply over the decision, saying it was sheer injustice and a biased decision which deprived his boxer of a deserved victory.

“Obviously I am not satisfied with the decision. Our boxer fought so well yet he was deliberately declared a loser. This is nothing but favouritism and injustice,” Meamutr told Dawn through an interpreter after the bout at KPT Sports Complex.

Asked warning to Adi for grabbing Sajjad in the third round must have played a major role in his defeat, the Thai official said rules of the game should be for all including Pakistani boxers.

“When our boxer grabbed his opponent once he was given a warning. What about the Pakistani boxers? Why there are no rules for them. Why the Pakistani boxer was not given a warning when he grabbed our boxer so many times,” he complained.

However, Meamutr said he would not lodge an official protest, saying “the matter is closed and it will be a futile exercise.”

Adi was equally frustrated after the decision as he felt neither justice was done in his case nor was there same set of rules for Pakistani boxers.

“There is no doubt that I was the winner. It’s no justice. It is favouritism and a biased decision. There should be justice not only for Pakistani boxers but also for Thailand, Iran, Uzbekistan, Jordan and all the participants” the dejected boxer said.

Adi dominated the Pakistani with stinging blows in the first round and kept Sajjad at bay but interestingly round-to-round points break-up provided by the organizers showed the two boxers tied at 6-6.

The local pugilist found it hard to penetrate through Thai’s guard in the second round in which Adi who scored vital points but was cautioned for grabbing Sajjad. Although Adi was clearly dominating the proceedings, amazingly Sajjad was awarded the round 9-6.

The Thai was penalised with two-point deduction with a warning for grabbing Sajjad who was in returned awarded Adi’s two points. While Adi continued unleashing swinging blows on Sajjad’s face with pinpoint accuracy in the third round, Pakistan threw punches everywhere except target but break-up showed him winner of the round 9-3 while he was cautioned for grabbing rival.

The fourth round, in which Sajjad hardly landed any punch on Adi but led 6-1, did not see much fireworks as both boxers were busy grabbing each other for which they were cautioned.

In another surprising result, light-welterweight Kazakhstan’s Zhunis Bakhtiyar lost to Abed Al Hallem Atat of Syria 24-15 in the quarterfinals.

But Kazakhs had some solace when two of their boxers Kudaibergenov Alemzhan and Zhumanbayev Yerkebulan moved into the semifinals.

Flyweight Alemzhan outboxed Iran’s Ebrahim Hassani 39-33, while Yerkebulan won the featherweight fight against Malaysia’s Amir Bin Ibrahim on a RSC verdict in the second round.

Uzbekistan dominated with three of their boxers — featherweight Mamadjonov Bahodir, light-welterweight Artikov Zokir and welterweight Krabaev Alibek — qualifying for the last four stage.

Results (quarterfinals):

Flyweight: Kudaibergenov Alemzhan (Kazakhstan) bt Ebrahim Hussain (Iran) 39-33; Choi Jae-Kwang (South Korea) bt M.M.A. Nisthar (Sri Lanka) 50-49; Jamereason (Thailand) bt Azoryan Mrav (Uzbekistan) 18-12; Saparbek Ulu Tilek (Kyrgyzstan) bt Keishi Takakei (Japan) 45-27.

Featherweight: Zhumanbayev Yerkebulan (Kazakhstan) Amir Bin Ibrahim (Malaysia) RSC/OS/II, Mamadjonov Bahodir (Uzbekistan) bt Kaddor Faras (Syria) 5-2; Kim Min-Uk (South Korea) bt Hudayberdiyew Serdar (Turkmenistan) 36-23; Sajjad Qambrani (Pakistan) bt Sailom Adi (Thailand) 30-16.

Light-welterweight: Artikov Zokir (Uzbekistan) bt Yusuke Sekine (Japan) RSC/OS/II; Abed Al Hallem Atat (Syria) bt Zhunis Bakhtiyar (Kazakhstan) 24-15; Park Sung-Jong (South Korea) bt M. Satarpoor (Iran) RSC/OS/III.

Welterweight: Krabaev Alibek (Uzbekistan) bt Ryo Osako (Japan) RSC/OS/III.

Super-heavyweight: Akepaer Yusufu (China) bt Adamov Aib (Kazakhstan) RSC/OS/III.