PWF to send wrestlers to Bishkek in two phases

LAHORE: In order to provide a week-long quality training ahead of the Asian Qualifiers for the 2024 Paris Olympics, Pakistan Wrestling Federation (PWF) plans to send three leading wrestlers to Bishkek on April 2 to attend a joint training camp with some other nations’ grapplers in Kyrgyzstan’s capital ahead of the Asian Championship and the Asian Qualifiers for the Olympics.

The country’s leading wrestlers Mohammad Inam Butt, Mohammad Bilal and Abdulah will proceed to Bishkek on April 2. They will train there for a week and then will be joined on April 9 by Zaman Anwar, Asadullah, Sharif Tahir and Haider Ali.

All these seven grapplers will feature in the Asian Championship which will be held in Bishkek from April 11-16. Then Inam, Abdulah, Bilal and Zaman will flex their muscles in the Asian Qualifiers for the Paris Olympics.

The other three wrestlers will return home after Asian Championship. Mohammad Usman Shahid will accompany the squad as coach.‘InshaAllah things will go well. Whatever we could do within our financial capacity we are doing,’ a PWF senior official told The News on Tuesday.

‘Kyrgyzstan will give us a training camp. Other nations also requested them for such an opportunity and it will be a joint training camp,’ the official said.‘After Asian Championship our four wrestlers along with coach will stay there to feature in the Olympics Qualifiers while the rest will return,’ the official confirmed.

He said if any wrestler, who is not in the Asian Qualifiers squad, delivers in the Asian Championship then he will be given chance in the World Qualifiers which will be hosted by Turkey in Istanbul from May 9-12.

In their Olympics qualification journey national wrestlers have got just one chance when they featured in the World Championship in Serbia in September last year. However, no one could leave any impression. The global event was the first Olympics Qualifier.

National wrestlers have been undergoing training here at the PSB Caching Centre for the last three weeks. Pakistan Sports Bard (PSB) is backing the camp.According to sources the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) told PWF that the Board is not able to bear the expenses of the training camp after March 30 and this has created a big issue.

Sources said that the PWF has requested the PSB through a formal letter to stretch their camp until May 15 so that national wrestlers could complete their Olympics Qualification cycle comfortably.

When this correspondent contacted a senior official of the PSB he promised that effort will be made to ensure wrestlers continue to train at the PSB Coaching Centre, Lahore.According to sources if the Board fails to cooperate then the PWF will have to shift the camp to any other facility after March 30.

National wrestlers have been facing training issues for the last few years. Recently Mohammad Inam, Mohammad Bilal and Zaman Anwar underwent training in the US and also featured in competition. Inam returned early after featuring in the event but Bilal and Zaman stayed for one and a half months to train. However, their two crucial weeks were wasted due to Christmas holidays.