Inam urges govt to hold training camps for SAG at the earliest

KARACHI: Pakistan’s ace wrestler Mohammad Inam has urged the government to hold camps for the 13th South Asian Games if it wants to see its athletes compete impressively in the biennial spectacle slated to be held in Nepal’s cities of Kathmandu and Pokhara from December 1-10.

“I urge the government to start camps as soon as possible,” Inam told ‘The News’ in an interview. “South Asian Games is not a minor event. Its standard is of Asian Games for us because we will be competing with India which has touched global standard in majority of the disciplines,” “Previously six months camps used to be held but I wonder why this government is not doing anything. Our players have been idle since the Asian Games. They need quality training if they are to compete effectively in Nepal’s Games,” the two-time World Beach Wrestling Championship winner said.

“For the last one year no camp has been held. The issue is that most of the players belong to far-flung areas where there are no facilities for training. Even in cities the athletes face issues of training facilities. The only solution is camps held by the government,” Inam said.

“If the government holds camps after National Games there will be no benefit. There is only one month after National Games and that would be spent in documentation and accreditation. The camps must be held as soon as possible,” the two-time Commonwealth Games gold medallist said.

Inam said if camps were not held then Pakistan might fall further in ranking in the regional event. “In 2006 Colombo South Asian Games Pakistan claimed 46 gold, in 2010 in Dhaka 19 gold and in 2016 SAG held in India, Pakistan managed only 12 gold. If we did not take our training issue seriously we could further slide,” said Inam, who is also the chairman of the athletes’ commission of Pakistan Olympic Association (POA).

Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) has received proposals from the federations but has not yet taken any concrete step. Sources in federations said they feared that Pakistan’s performance in the Nepal SAG would be disastrous. They said that the camps should have been started very early.

A few days ago former Director General of PSB Dr Akhtar Nawaz Ganjera told this correspondent that for such an event normally a two-year preparation period was needed. About his participation in the Beach Wrestling World Series to be held in August and September in Ukraine and Croatia, respectively, Inam said that he would consult with the secretary of Pakistan Wrestling Federation (PWF) before taking any decision. “The issue is that it will need financial input if I go to both events. I will consult the secretary of my federation and then decide to which event I should go. But it is more likely that I will feature in one of the two events before featuring in the World Beach Games in San Diego in October,” Inam said.

From August 9-10, Beach Wrestling World Series will be hosted by Ukraine in Odessa.

From September 7-8, Beach Wrestling World Series will be hosted by Croatia in Zagreb.

Inam qualified for the World Beach Games when he finished with silver medal in the Beach Wrestling World Series held in Brazil from May 10 to 11.