Nemo brings home boxing silver medal

Nemo brings home boxing silver medal

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia's last toe-hold at the 18th Asian
Amateur Boxing Championship in Tashkent, Uzbekistan, came unstuck
on Sunday.

The country's last hope, Nemo Michel Bahari, succumbed 3-4 to
pre-tournament favorite Tilegenov Bakhtiyar of Kazakhstan in the
featherweight final.

Earlier, Nemo's brother, middleweight Pino Bahari, tumbled at
the hands of another Kazakhstani, Yarebekov Dilshod, who was
eventually named the Best Boxer of the tournament.

The other three Indonesian boxers who were disposed of in the
earlier stages of the championship were flyweight Rachman Kili-
kili, lightflyweight Hermensen Ballo and lightweight Sonny
Rambing.

"I apologize to the whole nation for this loss. I tried my
best, but the odds were against me. I accept this loss
philosophically," Nemo said.

The slow-moving scores indicated that both Nemo and his
opponent were slow-movers.

"I tried almost all night long to keep Nemo's fever down,"
said the boxer's father and coach Daniel Bahari. "Though he did
not make it, he played it all out. And he followed all my
instructions."

Nemo sustained an injury to his left eye during his semifinal
fight against Vincent Galido, the Filipino opponent whom he
defeated 13-5 at the President's Cup International Boxing
Tournament in Jakarta in August. Following the injury, he
suffered from fever.

"Of course he was not at his best," Daniel commented. "How
could he have been, suffering from fever?"

At the same time, Daniel maintained that his son should have
won the bout with Bakhtiyar. "If you watch the fight on video,
you'll see that Nemo landed many jabs and punches in the third
round which were not counted by the judges," he said.

Nevertheless, Nemo's success in advancing to the final secured
him a berth at next year's Olympic Games in Atlanta.

For Nemo's four teammates to make it to Atlanta, they will
have work much harder in two international tournaments in the
Philippines and Thailand next year.

Becoming finalists in the two tournaments will not be enough
for them. To get tickets to the Olympic Games, the four
Indonesian boxers will have to emerge as champions. (arf)