Pino only one punch from Atlanta

Pino only one punch from Atlanta

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesian middleweight boxer Pino Bahari is one punch away from making his Olympic Games debut now that he's reached the semifinals of the Asia-zone championship in Bangkok.

Pino, a gold medalist in the 1990 Asian Games, clawed back on Monday from a two-point deficit in the first round to edge out Kanot Shagatafr of Kazakhstan. The Indonesian will now meet home favorite Buncha Malison in today's semifinals.

Both finalists in the championship will qualify for the Olympics in Atlanta, Georgia, slated for July 19 to Aug. 4. The championship serves as the last qualifying round for Asian boxers.

An in-form Pino was too much for Shagatafr in the second round when both pugilists engaged in a flurry of close encounters. The exhausting round forced the Kazakhstani side to throw in the towel when the final round was about to begin.

Pino was the only Indonesian to win in Monday's bouts. Lightweight Bara Gomies and light heavyweight Albert Papilaya crashed out of the contention for Olympic berths.

Bara was totally outclassed in his bout against Fumitaka Nitami of Japan, who won 6-1. But confusion marred Albert's narrow defeat to Zhao Yong of China.

Albert, who cruised to the quarterfinals in the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, led Zhao 8-7 in the dying seconds of the spirited bout. However, an unclear break order from Pakistani referee Abdul Rashid was interpreted as a warning to Albert by the judges. The warning gave the Chinese two points, which cost Albert the victory.

Indonesian team manager Bambang Asmanu said that the judges ruled out Indonesia's protest, but promised to discuss the controversy in a meeting today. (amd)