Chinese wushu coach hired for two months

KARACHI: Pakistan has hired the services of Yaojie Liu, a Chinese wushu coach, for two months in a bid to train top national fighters and coaches in line with the modern rules which took effect on March 17, 2017.

“We have hired the services of Yaojie Liu who is a highly qualified coach,” PWF president Malik Iftikhar told ‘The News’ on Wednesday. Liu belongs to the northern Chinese province Hebei.Iftikhar said that Liu would land in Lahore on September 4. “With his arrival will begin Pakistan’s preparation for the next year’s Asian Games,” he added.

“We want 50 leading fighters to be trained by Liu along with two coaches whose names are yet to be unveiled. But we want to invite those who are internationally qualified,” the official said.

“His credentials are very solid. He is a graduate of Beijing University. He has also worked as a coach of Indonesia, Korea, Turkey and Macao. The two-month training will not be sufficient for our players, but they will learn. For coaches I think it’s a sufficient period to get ready to train the players on modern lines,” Iftikhar said.

Training will be held at the PWF training centre in Lahore. “It is my own personal centre. It is a two-storey building, which can accommodate 60 players,” Iftikhar said. However, he was quick to add that there was no sponsor to back the federation. “I have no sponsor who could help the federation in managing the foreign coach. Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) is not helping us due to budget issues. I have requested Pakistan Olympic Association’s (POA) president and secretary and I hope they will assist us in our efforts,” said Iftikhar, himself a qualified coach.

The new rules were used for wushu competitions at the Islamic Games in Baku, Azerbaijan, in May. Pakistan got three bronze medals in Baku in spite of the fact that there was no coach with the touring party.The new rules will also be applied at the National Games in Quetta this year.

“In the National Games the new rules will be applied for the first time. We will also try to take the Chinese Master with us to Quetta so that he could witness how our fighters play,” he said.

Iftikhar also revealed that PWF had written to the PSB for setting up a wushu camp for the Asian Games but the response was not desirable. “The PSB told us that it cannot set up a camp at this time and that it would be possible in the financial year 2018-19. I think that would be too late,” Iftikhar said.

He said in case of no cooperation from any cordon, the PWF would try to keep its fighters training on constant basis.“Although it is not possible to hold the camp continuously till the Asian Games, every effort will be made to keep the fighters in practice. After holding the camp for some time in Lahore we will break it for one month and then resume it in Quetta. And then it will be held in any other city. This process will continue,” Iftikhar explained.

The Asian Games will be held in Palembang, Indonesia, from August 18 to September 2 next year.Wushu is one of the disciplines in which Pakistan has a fine record in the Asiad as the country has been able to win medals in the last three Asian Games on the trot.

Pakistan won a bronze medal on debut in the Asiad through Syed Maratab Ali Shah in the 2006 Doha Asian Games. In the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games, Ijaz Ahmed secured silver. In the 2014 Incheon Asian Games, Maratab claimed his second bronze medal.