EL-SIMREEN BEATEN AS OLYMPIC BOXING QUALIFIERS COMPLETE THRILLING OPENING DAY

A thrilling opening day at the Asian/Oceanian Road to Tokyo 2020 Olympic Boxing qualifiers has drawn to a close, but the host nation’s first star in action was unable to proceed.

Jordan’s Hisham El-Simreen went toe-to-toe with the impressive Fanat Kakhramonov in an absorbing 75kg contest that went the way of the man from Uzbekistan.

Fanat will now meet third seed Jancen Poutoa, of Samoa, while El-Simreen will need to try his luck at May’s world qualifying event in Paris 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 of the best fighters from 35 countries with 63 Olympic spots up for grabs, and it was a stunning evening session of 10 preliminary bouts.

In one of the fights of the day, Ian Bautista, of the 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 judges’ verdict over China’s Yong Chang.

Youth Olympic gold medallist Atichai Phoemsap (Thailand) and John Ume (Papua New Guinea) went through unscathed in the 63kg weight, while Jiniea Kim (Korea), Erbieke Tuoheta (China) and Yuito Moriwaki (Japan) booked last 16 spots in the highly competitive 75kg class.

In the men’s 81kg, Daxaing Chen completed a good evening for China by moving to the next round along with Paulo Aokuso, of Australia.

The action continues on Wednesday with 12 bouts scheduled for the 11am morning session, and a further 12 in the evening from 5pm.

The event is being broadcasted live on the Olympic Channel web site.

For the full session results, visit:  https://boxing.athlete365.org/the-5-qualification-events/asian-oceanian-qualifying-event-amman-jor-3-11-march-2020/