‘Our weightlifters can win at Tokyo Olympics’

KARACHI: A top official of Pakistan Weightlifting Federation (PWF) said on Sunday that with the government’s financial support at least five such weightlifters could be prepared who would not only qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics but also would win medals.

“We have world-class talent but it needs training on professional lines,” PWF secretary Amjad Amin told ‘The News’ in an interview from Lahore.

“To prepare five boys for Tokyo 2020 we need at least Rs150 million. We have highly talented boys like Nooh Dastagir Butt, Abdul Rehman, Mohammad Saqib, and Talha Talib who can turn out to be Olympic-level weightlifters,” the official said.

“If we are to prepare them for the grand affair then we will have to spend Rs30 million on each weightlifter,” Amjad added.

“The weightlifters need foreign training tours in a systematic manner and that is why such a huge amount is required,” he said.

“Since 2013 our graph of winning medals has been rising. And when you start preparing weightlifters for Olympic-level events it also benefits the players in low-level competitions as they can easily win medals because of their high-quality training,” the official remarked.

He observed that most weightlifters had a poor financial background.

He requested the Prime Minister to help the PWF so that it could prepare Olympic-level athletes.

Amjad also said that Pakistan would be fielding weightlifters in the Commonwealth Weightlifting Championships in Malaysia in October this year.

“We have written a letter to the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) about the preparatory camp and are waiting for its reply,” Amjad disclosed.

Pakistan plans to send weightlifters in youth, junior and senior categories to Malaysia event.

“Our youth and junior camp has already been held in Lahore but a regular camp including seniors can only be finalised when we have the response from the PSB,” the official said.

Amjad said that only those players would be sent to Malaysia who had the capability to win medals. “We will select only those who can deliver. We have a good track record in these competitions and I hope we will perform well this time also,” Amjad said.

The Malaysia event includes competitions for women and Pakistan also plans to send its women. “We will try to hold trials for picking female players for the tour as it may not be possible to hold any national championship because we have limited number of women players,” Amjad said. Pakistani women made their international debut at the South Asian Games in India early this year.

About hiring of a foreign coach Amjad said no progress had been made in that direction. “We direly need a good foreign coach,” the official said.