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)