Pakistan pin hopes on Atif for taekwondo Olympic berth

KARACHI: All eyes will be on the experienced Scotland-based Atif Arshad when Pakistan field their four taekwondo players in the Asian qualifying round for Olympics from April 16-17 at the Marriot Convention Centre Grand Ballroom in Pasay, Metro Manila, Philippines.

Atif, who has served Pakistan for six years, will flex his muscles in the minus 80 kilogramme competitions.

Atif was also part of the 2012 London Olympic Qualifiers held in October 2011 in Bangkok. He lost in the quarter-finals.

He recently won gold in Club Championship in Denmark and is in good form.

“We have told Atif that we are going to give him the last chance. He is an experienced player and we would like to see him win,” Pakistan Taekwondo Federation’s (PTF) president Lt Col Waseem Ahmed told ‘The News’ from Rawalpindi on Saturday.

Mohammad Faheem (-80kg) from FATA, United States-based Yasmin Maryam (-49kg) and Najia Khan (-67kg), who was also part of the London Olympics qualifiers, are the other members of Pakistan team for the Rio qualifiers.

“All four are undergoing tough training. It’s a tough event but I always believe in my players and am hopeful that one or two of the pack will click,” Waseem said.

As per rules, each of the 41 taekwondo nations of Asia can field maximum two men and two women in the continental qualifiers.

It is the last chance for all the participants of the continent to make a cut for Olympics because the world qualifiers have already been excluded from the list of the qualifiers.

Two players in each weight category will advance into the Rio Games to be held in August in Brazil.

“Pakistan is yet to see even a single player in the Olympic fold. If someone from our lot clicked it would be a breakthrough for the country,” the PTF official said.

“Najia is also highly experienced and is expected to put in her best. Faheem is a young, talented boy from Higher Education Commission (HEC). He had missed the South Asian Games because of an ankle injury. He is now completely fit and may produce a good result,” Waseem said.

“Yasmeen is young and talented and the gold medal she grabbed in the South Asian Games in India recently showed that she can fight bravely at the big stage,” Waseem pointed out.

Yasmeen also has the experience of playing in the World Championship.

Those players who are undergoing training in Pakistan will depart for Manila on April 13 along with the head delegate Murtaza Hussain Bangash, the secretary of PTF. They will be joined by Atif in the Philippines capital along with his coach TK Loh.

Yasmin, who trained in Pakistan for a few days before leaving for the US a fortnight ago, will also join Pakistan squad in Manila.

The 16-year-old Yasmin will be accompanied by her father Sohail Ali Khan, who is also her coach. Sohail is 7-Dawn Master and is highly experienced.

Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) will bear the expenses of Pakistan’s tour for the qualifiers. The Board has issued an NOC to the PTF and has sanctioned Rs800,000 for the qualifiers.

Pakistan also has a chance of qualifying for Rio Games in wrestling, judo and boxing whose qualifiers are going to be completed in the next few months.

After the Manila qualifiers, Pakistan will also be featuring in the Asian Taekwondo Championship at the same centre from April 19-20.

The four players of the Olympic qualifiers will be joined at the Asian Championship by this year’s South Asian Games bronze medallist Ayesha Noor, who will compete in the -49kg category.

The Karachi-based Noor will be accompanied by her coach Masroor. The PTF chief Waseem will proceed to Manila to attend the general body meeting of the Asian Taekwondo Union (ATU) to be held on April 17.

Pakistan’s Mohammad Azam, Altaf Malik and Yasir Mehmood will take part in the team competitions in Manila soon after the Asian Championship.  They will depart for the Philippines on April 18.