Pak taekwondo squad finalised for Asiad

KARACHI: Pakistan Taekwondo Federation (PWF) has finalised its six-member squad, four boys and two girls, for the 18th Asian Games slated to be held in the Indonesian cities of Jakarta and Palembang from August 18 to September 2.

However Ijaz Ahmed’s (-80kg) status is yet to be confirmed as he is said to have received some injuries in a road accident.If he is not able to accompany the squad he will be replaced by Sidra Batool (-46kg), a senior official of Pakistan Taekwondo Federation (PTF) told The News on Monday.

The squad include Ijaz Ahmad (-80kg), Shahzeb Khan (-57kg),Haroon Khan (-63kg), Mohammad Iqbal (-68kg), Aneela Ayesha (-49kg) and Nimra Wasiq (-53kg).

England-based fighter Aneela Ayesha has been British junior champion. Meanwhile US-based Nimra Wasiq is also a medal hope for Pakistan, according to PTF. She has already represented Pakistan in several international events, including the Senior World Championships in Korea in 2017.

Shahzeb belongs to Balochistan. He had made his international debut in 2016 South Asian Games in India.Balochistan-born Haroon has represented Pakistan in 2017 Baku Islamic Games and is a bronze medalist of the 2018 Asian G-1 event held in Iran. He has been national champion for the last three successive years.

Iqbal, who belongs to Railways, had made his international debut in the UAE Open Junior in 2016 besides having represented the country in the 2017 World Championship, 2017 Islamic Games, 2017 Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games and 2017 Korean Open.

Gilgit Baltistan-born Ijaz belongs to Army. He is a national champion and has also played in the 2016 South Asian Games and 2017 Islamic Games.The national taekwondo camp has been resumed at Islamabad. Korean coach Sung Jae Lee, who had left for Korea after Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) had stopped camps on May 15, will return to Pakistan on Wednesday (tomorrow) to join the camp.