Ri Tong Sun of North Korea began her quest for a spot at the Rio 2016 Olympic Games with a first-round victory ©AIBA

Ri Tong Sun of North Korea began her quest for a spot at this year's Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro with a first-round victory on the opening day of the AIBA Asian/Oceanian Olympic Qualification Event in Qian’an in China.

The 2015 Asian Championships silver medallist experienced few troubles on her way to a unanimous win against Indonesia’s Christina Marwam Jembay in the lightweight division.

Sun was declared a comfortable winner on the three judges’ scorecards to mark the opening day of the competition with a commanding success.

Suvd Erdene Oyungerel of Mongolia was the victor in the other women’s lightweight bout to take place today as she beat Nepal’s Saraswati Rana by unanimous decision.

In the men’s light flyweight division, Kim Un Song of North Korea was unable to follow in the footsteps of his compatriot as his chances of competing at Rio 2016 ended with a unanimous first round loss to Toshi Kashiwasaki of Japan.

The Japanese competitor will be joined in round two by Turat Osmonov of Kyrgyzstan, who proved too strong for Australian Joshua William English, progressing after all three judges awarded him the win.

A total of 30 quota places across the weight categories are on offer in the men’s tournament, while six are up for grabs in the women’s competition.

Pakistani boxers have not travelled to the event due to a row in their native country
Pakistani boxers have not travelled to the event due to a row in their native country ©Getty Images

One country which is conspicuous by its absence is Pakistan after the country’s boxers were refused non-objection certificates by the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) which would have enabled them to travel, according to the Express Tribune.

They were due to send a team of 10 boxers to the event in Qian’an.

PSB director Akhtar Ganjera blamed the Pakistan Boxing Federation (PBF) for the debacle, claiming they had failed to submit the schedule for the event to them beforehand.

Ganjera admitted the organisation were struggling for money and that the PBF “could not possibly expect us to just arrange the funds or the non-objection certificate at such short notice”.

Hashan Mehmood, a 32-year-old whose Olympic dream has been shattered by the refusal to send his team to the event, said the Pakistani boxers were “shocked and sad”.

“I’m 32 and for me this was my last chance to feature in an Olympic event,” he told the Express Tribune.

“Every one of us is shocked and sad.

“Why did the PSB refuse to give the non-objection certificates?

“Maybe Pakistan should just focus on cricket and other sports should be banned.”

The tournament in China is due to continue tomorrow.