Pakistan hope for medals at Commonwealth Karate event

KARACHI: Pakistan Karate Federation’s (PKF) president Mohammad Jehangir on Thursday said that the country had a good chance to secure a few medals in the 8th Commonwealth Karate Championship in New Delhi, which will be held from September 18-20.
“We have a few solid players, both seniors and juniors, and I expect a few medals,” Jehangir told ‘The News’ from Lahore on Thursday.
“Saadi Abbas is undoubtedly favourite for gold. Baz Mohammad, who won two gold medals at the South Asian Championships, is also expected to do well. Kulsoom, Beenish Khan, Ali Mehmood and in juniors Mohammad Ali is also a good prospect for the country,” Jehangir added.
As many as 33 karatekas are training for the prestigious event at the PSB Coaching Centre in Lahore under the supervision of coaches Khalid Noor and Babar Iqbal.
Pakistan will be fielding senior, junior and cadet squads in the three-day competitions.
Shahida, Naz Gul and Nargis, who belong to Hazara tribe of Quetta, will make their debut in the slots.
Pakistan’s star player Saadi Abbas is yet to join the camp. “He is expected to land in Lahore in a week. He is currently training with his club Al Ahli in Dubai and is in top form. We are not anxious about Saadi as he is a mature player and keeps himself tuned,” Jehangir said.
Saadi (67kg) has to his credit gold medals in the Commonwealth Karate Championships in South Africa in 2010 and in Montreal, Canada, in 2013.
He also won gold medal in the Asian Championship in China in 2011 and gold in the US Open in Las Vegas in April 2014.
Visas issue:
“We have applied for visas; let’s see what happens,” Jehangir said, when asked if the tense political situation might affect participation in this event.
“We could not feature in the last South Asian Championship because of visa issue but this time we are hoping for the best,” the official said.
“Our plan is to send ten men and eight women in seniors and five in juniors. Niamatullah is expected to be fielded in the cadet category,” Jehangir said.
“The final squad will be announced in a few days,” he said.
Jehangir said they would prefer to send those who had medal prospects.
As Pakistan will also be featuring in the South Asian Games in India in January next year, Jehangir said the PKF would direly need a couple of foreign tours and a foreign coach to prepare for the assignment.
“We need a good foreign coach ahead of the SAG. The problem is that Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) is yet to finalise the policy for hiring a foreign coach,” Jehangir said.
“We are in contact with our former Iranian coach Ahmed Safi who is coaching in Korea. Iran Karate Federation (IKF) has also been contacted and we hope that both Safi and IKF will help us to provide a good coach to Pakistan,” he said.
Ahmad Safi served Pakistan from 2002 to 2006. Since then Pakistan has been featuring in international events without a foreign coach.
The allocation for foreign coaches made in the budget of the PSB was not utilised during the last couple of years.
Currently only judo has an Iranian coach Sajjad Kazmi who is preparing the side for the South Asian Games and other international competitions.