GLASGOW
\nPakistan\u2019s boxers kicked off their Commonwealth Games campaigns in style as Afzal Khan and Fatima Zehra registered commanding victories at the SEC Centre in Glasgow on Friday.
\nAfzal delivered Pakistan\u2019s first victory of the Games, outclassing Jovanie Bouzin of Seychelles in a one-sided 65kg bout.
\nThe Pakistani orthodox produced a composed and clinical display to sweep all five judges\u2019 scorecards, securing a unanimous decision and a place in the round-of-16.
\nAfzal began cautiously in the opening round, picking his shots with sharp, precise punching as the Seychellois fighter sought to impose himself with aggressive forward pressure.
\nDespite a balanced exchange of blows, four of the five ringside officials awarded the round to the Pakistani pugilist for his superior accuracy and cleaner connecting punches.
\nThe 65kg fighter stepped up the tempo in the second session, closing the distance and pinning Bouzin against the ropes.
\nBouzin briefly troubled his opponent with a straight right hand, but Afzal absorbed the shot without retreat, maintaining his composure in the clinches and landing the more telling blows. All five judges scored the round in favour of the Pakistani.
\nTrailing by two rounds, Bouzin came out swinging wildly in the third and final period. Afzal, however, showcased deft head movement to evade the danger, growing in confidence as the contest wore on.
\nHe punctuated his dominance with a crisp left hook to Bouzin\u2019s chin, forcing the referee to administer a standing count for a knockdown.
\nPakistan\u2019s boxing success continued in the women\u2019s 50kg category, where Fatima produced a dominant display against Realeboha Segoete of Lesotho to cruise into the quarter-finals.
\nThe 22-year-old Pakistani kno\u00adcked her opponent down three times across two rounds before the referee intervened to halt the contest.
\nFatima scored her first knockdown in the opening round, controlling the ring throughout, though she could not land the finishing blow.
\nShe nevertheless took the round on all five judges\u2019 scorecards. The second round proved decisive as Fatima struck early with another knockdown and then added a third at the 2:35 mark, forcing the referee to step in and hand the Pakistani a emphatic triumph.
\nElsewhere in the Games, Pakist\u00adan\u2019s swimmers failed to make an impact.
\nJehanara Nabi won her heat of the women\u2019s 50m butterfly in 29.99 seconds \u2014 well off the 27.56 that secured the final qualification spot \u2014 but her time left her 40th overall among 52 swimmers, well outside the top-16 cut for the semi-finals.
\nThe men\u2019s 200m individual medley saw Ahmad Durrani finish 17th overall among 22 entrants with a time of 2:09.79 in the heats, falling well short of the top-eight qualification mark for the final.
\nIn lawn bowls, Ayub Qureshi suffered a defeat in his men\u2019s singles opener, going down 2-0 to Ross Owen of Wales. Owen dominated the two ends, taking the first 12-5 and completing a whitewash with a crushing 17-0 victory in the second.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
GLASGOW Pakistan\u2019s boxers kicked off their Commonwealth Games campaigns in style as Afzal Khan and Fatima Zehra registered commanding victories at the SEC Centre in Glasgow on Friday. Afzal delivered Pakistan\u2019s first victory of the Games, outclassing Jovanie Bouzin of Seychelles in a one-sided 65kg bout. The Pakistani orthodox produced a composed and clinical display […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":558437,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-558420","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-sports"],"yoast_head":"\n