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Thursday March 28, 2024

Asian Games: PBF asks PSB to hold camp from May 5

By Alam Zeb Safi
April 26, 2018

KARACHI: Having failed to live up to the expectations in the recently concluded 21st Commonwealth Games in Australia, Pakistan boxers will undergo even tougher test in the Asian Games in Indonesia from August 18 to September 2.

The pugilists have very little time to prepare. And Pakistan Boxing Federation (PBF) has now asked the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) to arrange a camp for the Asiad from May 5.

“We have requested the PSB to give us a camp from May 5 in Islamabad so that we could prepare well,” PBF secretary Col Nasir Tung told ‘The News’ on Wednesday.“Time is very short and we have to do a lot of work,” he said.

Nasir said that leading 30 boxers would be invited to the camp in the respective weights. He said there would be competitions in 49kg, 52kg, 56kg, 60kg, 64kg, 69kg and 75kg in Indonesia. It means that the country’s experienced boxer Awais Ali Khan (81kg) will have no chance.

The women will compete in 51kg, 57kg and 60kg. “It is not yet final in which weights we will send our female entries but we will hold a camp in all three weights for women,” the official said.

But mere training in Islamabad will not be enough for such a tough challenge as there will be boxers from such strong nations as Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan.The PBF has planned to provide exposure to the budding boxers ahead of the Asiad.

“We are in talks with both Uzbekistan and Iran. Our plan is to send our cream to Iran for a few days and then before Asian Games, we will try to send them to Uzbekistan for full-fledged training. It would be of great benefit if we could manage some exposure for our boxers,” Nasir said.

Pakistan’s coach Arshad Hussain, meanwhile, has said that without proper foreign training the boxers would not be able to perform well in Indonesia.“The Asian Games are much tougher than the Commonwealth Games. We will have Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Azerbaijan, Japan, Korea and Thailand whose boxing standard is high. To compete with them our boxers will need high-quality training abroad,” Arshad told this correspondent.

“For Commonwealth Games our boxers did not get the required quality of sparring,” said Arshad, a Commonwealth Games bronze medalist.When asked if Awais would reduce his weight, Arshad said: “It would be very difficult for him to reduce six kilogramme as it would weaken him,” Arshad said.

In the last Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea, in 2014, Pakistan claimed bronze medal through the now professional boxer Mohammad Waseem, who brought the country back on the continental event’s victory podium after a gap of 12 years.Pakistan had claimed one gold, two silver and one bronze medal in the 2002 Busan Asian Games.