TBILISI (The Thursday Times) — Maliha Ali, a 24-year-old from Hunza, has beaten Russia’s two-time European champion Veronika Drozdova at the IMMAF World Championships, reaching the quarter-finals of the top event in amateur mixed martial arts.
She won by split decision in Tuesday’s featherweight (65.8kg) bout in Georgia, against a 19-year-old from a Russian team of more than 60 athletes. Maliha, who celebrated in prostration with the Pakistani flag over her shoulders, took the first two rounds, working Drozdova against the cage and then landing heavy blows from full mount after a takedown. She tired in the third, which went to the Russian, but had done enough.
“We worked on our opponent’s game plan, how she fights, and executed our strategy,” she said. “And thankfully it worked.”
A plan from Angola
Maliha, also a wushu champion and national kickboxing gold medallist, came to Tbilisi with a silver medal from the IMMAF World Cup in Angola this year. The Pakistan MMA Federation then ran a six-week camp and brought in an international jiu-jitsu and grappling coach to fix the weaknesses it saw there.
“We come from almost nothing; the only thing we have is our grit and desire to succeed,” said federation president Omar Ahmed, who described Pakistan as among the least-resourced teams at an event where Russia has one of the best-funded programmes.
Twin sisters, one day
Maliha’s quarter-final was set for Wednesday against Mexico’s Andrea Gabriela Guzman Salazar. Her twin sister, Manesha, who won gold at the World Cup in Luanda this year, was due to fight Poland’s Martyna Caruk on the same day. Results had not been reported at the time of writing.
The championships run until November 7, with 881 athletes competing for world titles.
