Five athletes to train in China: Sahi

Alam Zeb Safi : PESHAWAR: Athletics Federation of Pakistan (AFP) is sending five leading athletes to China on November 28 for a couple of months training, a senior official of the federation told ‘The News’ here on Wednesday.

AFP chief Major General (r) Mohammad Akram Sahi said that the tour has been managed through the assistance of the Chinese embassy.

The athletes being sent include the country’s premier javelin thrower Arshad Nadeem, 400m hurdler Olym­pian Mehboob Ali, sprinter Uzair, 110m hurdler Mohammad Naeem and high jumper Shehroz.

“This tour will enable our athletes to learn and better their techniques,” said Sahi, also a former international triple jumper.

He said that training in China would also help them to perform in effective way in the SAFF Championship which will be organised by Bang­ladesh next year.

He said that the AFP is trying its level best in its capacity to promote athletics.

He specially mentioned javelin thrower Arshad Nadeem, saying he is Pakistan’s Olympics hope and would be given every opportunity to press for Olympics seat.

“The 13th South Asian Games is the best chance with Arshad and I am confident he will put in his best in that event to qualify for Olympics,” Sahi said.

Arshad recently in Doha set a new national record when he managed an 81.52m throw in the IAAF World Championships, beating his previous best 80.75m, which had fetched for the Mian Channu-born athlete bronze medal in the 18th Asian Games in Indonesia last year.

Sahi said that if supported by state the AFP would manage foreign coaches for some of the events in which the country has the best talent.

He said that hiring a foreign coach was very expensive and only the AFP would not be able to meet all financial requirements.“The state input is mu­st,” he said.