Maliha Ali takes IMMAF bronze, federation appeals semi-final verdict
Pakistan's federation has asked the IMMAF judging commission for a round-by-round breakdown of the split decision that sent Russia's Polina Baldina into the featherweight final.
Pakistan's Maliha Ali took a bronze medal at the IMMAF World Championships in Tbilisi, Georgia, after losing a split decision to Russia's Polina Baldina in the featherweight (65.8kg) semi-final on Thursday, a result the Pakistan MMA Federation has formally appealed.
Two of the three judges scored the bout for Baldina. One gave her every round, 30-27. A second returned 29-28 for Baldina. The third scored 29-28 in Maliha's favour.
Maliha reached the semi-final with a split-decision win over Russia's two-time European champion Veronika Drozdova on Tuesday and a unanimous-decision victory over Mexico's Andrea Gabriela Guzman Salazar. Against Baldina she raised her arms at the final bell, believing she had done enough to reach the final.
She competed with a fractured toe, a severely bruised eyelid and a partially dislocated jaw. Omar Ahmed, president of the Pakistan MMA Federation, asked her whether she was fit to fight. "Sir, we fight from the heart," she told him. "These hands and feet are just not that important."
Minute Mirror reported that Baldina, 23, is a former world champion in another MMA federation and reached the final after three consecutive wins.
The federation's appeal is addressed to the head of IMMAF's Refereeing and Judging Commission. It asks for a detailed round-by-round scoring breakdown, an explanation for the conflicting scorecards and a face-to-face technical review of the contest. It also cites Pakistan's split-decision defeat in a semi-final at last year's championships.
Omar told Dawn that judging and refereeing structures favour former Soviet states, and that Russia has financial and administrative resources that Pakistan's small representation cannot match. The appeal is pending.
Maliha's twin sister Manesha lost a narrow split decision to Poland's Martyna Caruk in the lightweight (70.3kg) quarter-finals. Manesha had earlier won gold at the IMMAF World Cup in Angola.
Both sisters travelled to Georgia with a Pakistan squad whose medals came without a final appearance. Maliha leaves with bronze and a protest lodged on her behalf.
How the reports differ
Dawn led on Maliha Ali's injuries and on her reply to federation president Omar Ahmed that "we fight from the heart", with the appeal carried in its headline. Minute Mirror led on the medal itself and set out the three judges' scorecards, the names of her two earlier opponents and her twin sister Manesha's quarter-final defeat. Minute Mirror credited Omar's criticism of the verdict to an interview with Dawn.
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