Sahi expects Afzal, Arshad to win medals

KARACHI: Athletics Federation of Pakistan (AFP) plans to send seven athletes to Vietnam later this month for the Asian Junior Athletics Championship to be held there from June 3-6.

The squad will fly to Vietnam on May 31.

Interestingly the AFP is fielding four athletes in the 100m relay for which the trials will be conducted on May 21 at Lahore.

“We are taking chance in relay. We have a few good athletes and we are going to pick the best of them after trials to be held on May 21,” the AFP president Maj Gen (retd) Akram Sahi told ‘The News’ on Wednesday.

He said that Mujahid from Army had already been picked for 110m hurdles.

Sahi said that a couple of Pakistani athletes had the potential to win medals in the continental event in which athletes under 20 years of age can participate.

“Our javelin thrower Arshad Nadeem and triple jumper Mohammad Afzal can win medals,” Sahi said.

Arshad has achieved world’s fourth ranking in under-20 category. Afzal created a stir in the Asian Youth Championship in Qatar last year by winning gold medal. “Arshad has some problem in his arm, but he will get fit in ten to 12 days,” Sahi said.

He added that the AFP would try to send both Arshad and Afzal for training abroad. “Both are highly talented boys and could turn out to be Olympic-level athletes,” said Sahi, a former international athlete.