Lifter Nooh targets 2020 Tokyo Olympics

KARACHI: Accomplished weightlifter Nooh Dastgir Butt believes he can qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics if he gets a chance to figure in most of the qualifying events after the Asian Games in Indonesia.

“It’s my target to make it to the 2020 Olympics. I think there should not be any problem for me. But the important thing is that the Pakistan Weightlifting Federation should send me to all major events which will serve as qualifiers for the 2020 Olympics,” Nooh said while talking to ‘The News’ from Gujranwala.

The 20-year-old weightlifter a few days ago made Pakistan proud when he snared gold in clean and jerk and a bronze each in snatch and total in the World Junior Weightlifting Championships in Tashkent.

This was the first time that Pakistan featured in the global junior event.

To a question whether he would need any foreign coach or foreign training for his constant growth, Nooh said: “I will need both. Certainly a foreign coach matters a lot in a player’s build-up and so does foreign training.

“But foreign training for one or two months will be of no use. If a player trains for five to six months under a foreign coach on foreign soil then it can make a difference,” the 2018 Commonwealth Games bronze medallist said.

Nooh, who is also the +105kg champion of the 2017 Commonwealth Junior Championships, also aims to give it his best in the 18th Asian Games slated to be held in Indonesian cities of Jakarta and Palembang from August 18 to September 2.

“You know this Asian Games will be my first event and I will try my level best to perform. I will try to finish fourth or fifth, which will be a huge success as you know Asia has Olympic and world champions,” Nooh said.

Nooh’s personal best in snatch is 180kg, in clean and jerk 230kg and in total 410kg which shows the youngster has the chance to grow.

He is training at his home in Gujranwala under the supervision of his father Ghulam Dastgir Butt, himself a former international and a bronze medallist of the 1984 Asian Championships.

When asked when he would be able to lift a medal in the Asian Games, Nooh said: “If I keep growing in the same manner I am confident I will be able to snare a medal in the 2022 Asian Games.”

About the World Junior Championship, Nooh said he had targetted two gold medals but his snatch was not good.

Nooh lifted 228kg in his second attempt to finish with a gold in clean and jerk. In snatch he lifted 171kg to finish with a bronze. He also took bronze with 399kg in total.