National boxing camp for Commonwealth Games from tomorrow

KARACHI: National pugilists will assemble in Lahore on Sunday (tomorrow) to begin their preparations for the Commonwealth Games slated to be held in Birmingham from July 28 to August 8.

After reporting the camp Sunday (tomorrow), the probables will start training from Monday, a senior official of Pakistan Boxing Federation (PBF) told ‘The News’ on Friday.

As many as 17 male and three female boxers have been invited to the camp which will be supervised by coaches Arshad Hussain, Zaigham Maseel, Mohammad Tariq, and Nisar Khan.

Initially the camp was scheduled to begin from March 1 but was delayed due to an event from Army, one of the major departments.

Total of four male and one female boxer will be fielded in the Commonwealth Games,

Four boxers, in each weight category, have been invited to the camp which the PBF is going to conduct through its own resources as there is no support from the state.

As Asian Games are also slated to be held in China from September 10-25, the PBF secretary Col Nasir Tung told ‘The News’ the camp strength would be boosted for that.

He said that at the end of May an Inter-departmental event, carrying seven departments and a PBF team, will be held which will also help the federations to find some more talent.

He said because of financial constraints 20 boxers have been invited to the camp in both male and female categories, adding, more may come in future when finances would allow them to do so as South Asian Games are also in the pipeline next year.

Camp probables: Muhammad Faheem, Janzaib Khan, Zohaib Rasheed, Muhammad Dawood Khan, Aurangzaib, Naqeeb Ullah, Shahab, Mehroz Ali, Zakir Hussain, Ilyas Hussain, Ibrahim, Mohib Ullah, Syed Kamil Farrukh, Sana Ullah, Mahmood- ul-Hassan, Azhar, Irfan Khan.

Female boxers: Mahreen Baloch, Azka Ashfaq, Fatima Zehra.

Coaches: Arshad Hussain, Zaigham Maseel, Muhammad Tariq Siddiqi, Nisar khan.