KUWAIT: President of Kuwait Olympic Committee Sheikh Fahad Nasser Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Sabah declared the Asian Schoolboy Boxing Championship 2019 Kuwait Open, at Kuwait Sports Club Saturday evening. The tournament is being hosted by Kuwait until the 9th of August and has 150 boxers from 21 countries participating.

The opening ceremony was attended by the President of Asian Boxing Federation Anas Al-Otaiba, Deputy Director General of Public Authority for Sports Dr Saqer Al-Mulls, KOC Secretary Hussein Al-Musallam, Chairman of Kuwait Boxing Federation Mohammad Mansi as well as heads of delegations. Sheikh Fahad Nasser Al-Sabah welcomed Kuwait's guests and wished them all the success, he also thanked the chairman of KBF and its members for their massive efforts to ensure success of the championship. He said Kuwait will host 4 to 5 continental and international championships during the next six months.

Meanwhile, Deputy Director General of PAS Dr Saqer Al-Mulla said he was happy with the participation of the continent in the first championship hosted by the country after the suspension was lifted. He said "Kuwait remains the cradle of these sports gatherings, and we are honored to support these championships that will act as our pathway to the return of international arenas." President of the Asian Federation Anas Al-Otaibi lauded the great efforts that were exerted by the Kuwait Federation and lauded the major hospitality the guests enjoyed.

Matches of day 1
The 37 kg category saw Philippines Joshua Sorillo defeating Sri Lanka's Senuka Dulran Weerasinghe, and Jordan's Awos Mohammad defeating Kuwait's Jaber Al-Otaibi, and Tajekstan's Ruslan Gufurov defeating Syria's Qadous Alhassan and Uzbekistan's Mahmudov Hojiakbar defeating Palestines Karam Saqqa.

In the 40kg category, Afghanistan's Mohammad Younus Amiri defeated Palestine's Ismail Ghaith, Sri Lanka's Ashan Shreemal Thalewela Gedara defeated Kuwait's Omar Al-Otaibi, Turkmstan's Alisher Orazbayef defeated Philippine's Van Hendrichi Abig, Syria's Mohammad Ali defeated Jordan's Hamza Mallas, Uzbekistan's Abdulaziz Burkushev defeated Kazakhstan's Farrukh Tulaganov, India's Neeru defeated Iraq's Hussein Ali Al-Khazraj and Kazakh Amir Seilkhan defeated Tajik Alisher Saidov.
In the 46 kg category, Philippine's Lofranco Reymond defeated Iraq's Hussein Jassim, Tajik Amirkhon Rustmov defeated Bahrain's Ali Bu Khalaf, Thailand's Phisit Paochanthuek defeated Sri Lanka's Kavindu Madushan, India's Nikhil defeated Iran's Adnan Gorgich.

By Abdellatif Sharaa