KARACHI: National boxers on Thursday started their training at the Army Sports Complex in Rawalpindi to prepare for the Asian Olympic qualifying round which will be held in Wuhan, China, from February 3-14.
“Yes, the boxers started training at Pindi today,” Pakistan Boxing Federation’s (PBF) secretary Col Nasir Tung told ‘The News’ on Thursday. Mohammad Asif, Ataullah, Naqeebullah, South Asian Games gold medallist Niamatullah, Suleman Baloch, Sardar, Saiful Manan, Gul Zeb, Amir Khan, Mehmood-ul-Hasan and Sanaullah have been invited to the camp.
Boxers from Army began training on Thursday. The pugilists from Quetta and Sindh were on their way to Rawalpindi, it was learnt. Besides the continental qualifiers, national pugilists also have to feature in the world qualifying round whose schedule is not yet confirmed.
Pakistan last featured in Olympic boxing in the 2004 Athens Games. Nasir said that they had written to Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) for supporting the camp for the qualifiers but the Board did not respond. “WAPDA offered its help to us but finally we have decided to hold the camp in Rawalpindi in the facility of Army which is very good,” Nasir said.
He was quick to add that the advantage of holding the camp in Army’s facility was that the fighters would get sparring partners. “There our boys will get good sparring partners,” Nasir said.
Former Olympian and AIBA 3-star coach Arshad Hussain is supervising the camp. He is being assisted by Qamar Shaheen from Army, an AIBA 1-star coach. Asian qualifying round is expected to be a tough challenge for the Pakistani pugilists who have been labouring for a long time for making a comeback to the world’s most prestigious competition.
“If we are able to prepare the lot well then I hope someone will definitely qualify,” Nasir said. “We are doing the best for our boxers. You know financial issues affected us greatly during the last few years. We are making concerted efforts to overcome all such issues,” Nasir said.
He added that the PBF was trying to arrange a foreign tour for a few days for the boxers ahead of the continental qualifiers. “Effort is being made in that direction too,” Nasir said. He reiterated that the PBF was planning to field five boxers in the qualifiers in China. “Yes, we are going to field minimum five in that event,” Nasir said.
Coach Arshad Hussain was confident that the boxers could be prepared within one month. “Although time is not that much at our disposal, I will be trying hard to prepare a better lot within the time that is available,” Arshad said.
He said that he expected one or two boxers to make it to Olympics. Arshad, a former Army boxer, said that the boxing gym is in the boarding area of the boxers and that was the biggest plus. “The facility has been tremendous,” he added.