ASIAN GAMES: Boxing coach not sure about medal chances

KARACHI: Pakistan boxing coach Arshad Hussain was not sure about the country’s medal chance in boxing in the 18th Asian Games slated to be held in the Indonesian cities of Jakarta and Palembang from August 18 to September 2.

“I am not quite sure about our medal chance as you know we did not get camp in time. We had asked for the camp from May 5 but it was not given and now the time is very short,” Arshad told ‘The News’.

“Had the camp been held on time then the things could have been improved. Now we will fight against time as you know Asian Games are much tougher and we needed lengthy preparation,” said Arshad, also a former international.

He said that it was not difficult to improve the fitness level of the boys but the real issue is to get sparring partners.

“You know in Pakistan we don’t have good sparring partners for our top seeds. And normally we need a foreign tour for the purpose,” Arshad said.

When asked that Iran’s tour is being planned by the Pakistan Boxing Federation (PBF), Arshad said that in Iran too there were no tough boxers.

“May be Iran’s tour help us upto certain extent but in reality we needed a tour of any other leading country of Asia as Iran’s boxing is also not of the top standard,” the coach said.

Arshad was Pakistan’s coach in the 21st Commonwealth Games held in Gold Coast, Australia, in April 2018. National pugilists had failed to live up to the billing in the 71-nation event.

As many as 25 male and eight female boxers have been called up for the Asian Games camp which will begin at the Pakistan Sports Complex from June 20.

It is expected that Pakistan will field six male and three female boxers in the biennial competitions in Indonesia. The event will be contested in only seven weight categories for male as light heavyweight, heavyweight and super heavyweight are not in the plans of the organisers.

This would be the first time that Pakistani women would be featuring in the Asian Games. A handful of national female fighters had participated in the 2016 South Asian Games in India.

Rukhsana Parveen would be one of the selected fighters for the Asian Games, a senior official of PBF said.

“Yes Rukhsana from Punjab, who took bronze in India in the South Asian Games in 2016, would be in the list of three female boxers who will feature in Asian Games. She plays in 60kg. It is not yet known who would be the other two,” PBF secretary Nasir Tung told this correspondent.

Nasir said that Iran’s tour would be after July 15. In the last Asian Games held in Incheon, South Korea, in 2014 Mohammad Waseem had claimed bronze medal in the flyweight category.