Wrestlers suffering amid heat, lack of facilities

KARACHI: National wrestlers are battling against hostile weather to prepare for the Commonwealth Games slated to be held in Birmingham from July 28 to August 8.

Huddled at Lahore, top grapplers have been seeking appropriate spots in the Punjab capital to do gym and mat training because of lack of a proper cooling system at the wrestling hall and gym at the PSB Coaching Centre in Lahore. They utilise the Sports Board Punjab facilities but there too they have been facing protocols and game-related infrastructure issues.

A key wrestler has developed injuries because of dehydration due to extreme heat. Majority of Pakistan’s wrestling squad is unable to do the desired training for the most competitive event in Birmingham.

In the absence of the country’s premier weightlifter Talha Talib, who is under the scanner of International Testing Agency (ITA) for doping offence, and the unpredictability of javelin thrower Arshad Nadeem, wrestling is the only discipline in which Pakistan can win gold medals in Birmingham.

If wrestlers are unable to undergo solid training, they will not be able to do their best against India’s squad which comprises the likes of world silver medallist and world junior gold medallist Deepak Punia, Tokyo Olympics bronze medallist Bajranj Punia, Tokyo Olympics silver medallist Ravi Kumar, Asian silver medallist Naveen and strong heavyweight wrestler Mohit who all are training well for the quadrennial spectacle. Canada and Nigeria are also strong in the 65 and 125 kg weight categories.

Pakistan’s premier wrestler Mohammad Inam will defend his 86kg title in Birmingham but success depends on how he and his fellow grapplers are trained for this vital assignment. Pakistan wrestling coach Ghulam Fareed wants a 40-day foreign training for his squad.

“You know India are very strong with most of their squad members having got medals at the Olympics and world levels. If we want to challenge them and wrestlers of Canada, we will need to have a minimum 40-day training in Kazakhstan ahead of the Commonwealth Games,” Fareed told ‘The News’.

“Our training has definitely been affected due to hostile weather and we lack proper facilities,” Fareed said. However, he hoped the hurdles will be “overcome soon. We are working hard to overcome various issues and enable the grapplers to undergo top training in the coming days,” Fareed said.

A senior official of the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) admitted the other day during an interaction with this correspondent that there is no solid cooling system in any state-owned facility across the country.

Besides Inam, Youth Olympics bronze medallist Inayatullah, Ali Asad, Sharif Tahir, Tayyab Raza and Zaman Anwar are part of Pakistan’s Commonwealth Games wrestling squad. Pakistan Wrestling Federation (PWF) has already submitted its request with the PSB regarding Kazakhstan tour but the Board has not yet given the green signal to the federation. Wrestling has been the medal-winning discipline for the last several decades and the nation will mostly depend on its performance in the Commonwealth Games.