M'sian Boxers Fail To Qualify For London Olympics

KUALA LUMPUR, April 17 (Bernama) -- The Malaysian Amateur Boxing Federation's (MABF) dreams to see its boxers in action at the 2012 London Olympic Games were shattered when their two boxers failed to qualify in the Asian Zone Championship, held at Astana, Kazakhstan last Thursday. MABF honorary-secretary, Maulud Othman said he was disappointed when the results were not in favour for Mohd Farkhan Haron (75kg category) and Khir Akyazlan Azmi (69kg category) as the duo had to face tough opponents in the preliminary rounds. "Our hopes were raised when Mohd Farkhan managed to outdo Indonesian champion, Alex Tatontos in the first bout but he could not sustain the power of world champion from Uzbekistan, Atoev Abbos in the second round. "It was unfortunate that Mohd Farkhan had to meet a world class boxer in the second round but I'm confident he will qualify for the London Olympics," he said when contacted by Bernama on Tuesday. Maulud said Khir Akyazlan was showed the exit in the first bout when he lost to Jordanian boxer, Mohammad Alassi. For the record, the last time a national boxer had qualified for the Olympics was Sapok Biki in 1996, but he failed to bring home any medal. Maulud said after failing to qualify for the London Olympics, the MABF's focus now was to prepare the team of senior and junior boxers for the 2013 SEA Games in Myanmar. "Our target is to win at least one gold medal to redeem the disappointment of not winning any gold medal at the Indonesian SEA Games last year," he said. Maulud said the association planned to retain the senior boxers to lead the country's challenge in Myanmar but at the same time, MABF would also give opportunities to junior boxers who have the potential. In the 2009 SEA Games in Laos, the national boxing squad managed to win two gold medals through Mohd Farkhan and Mohd Fairus Azwan Abdullah in the men's 75kg middle weight and men's 81kg light heavy weight categories, respectively. -- BERNAMA