But for months the national hero — now fourth in the world rankings — has been a shadow of his former self. Earlier, three Sri Lanka players got off to decent starts but none of them converted it into a big one. Kazakhstan took the bantamweightgold after 2013 bronze-medallist Kairat Yeraliyev upgraded his performance to beat American Duke Ragan in a split verdict. Thus far, they have managed to defeat only West Indies and Zimbabwe in their 17-year-old history as a Test playing nation. He was also beaten in a split decision in a more closely-contested bout against Joahnys Argilagos. Mehedi Hasan Miraz played the perfect spoil for him while Taijul Islam filled the gaps. The Asian Cup champions will be favoured to beat lowly Thailand in Melbourne in their last qualifier. We have a very strong balance sheet and a favourable cash position. on Tuesday but even a dominant win may not be enough to grab the second automatic ticket to Russia, with Saudi Arabia two better in goal difference. “To think that these players are going to make it easy against Syria is to not know them, thei.