Women Talent Hunt: Taekwondo, squash training camps begin

PESHAWAR: The Women Talent Hunt training camps for taekwondo and squash kicked off at the Indoor Gymnasium and Qamar Zaman Squash Complex here on Tuesday.

Director Sports Female Rashida Ghaznavi told reporters that the Talent Hunt Training and Coaching camps were being held to provide much needed coaching and training to girls between the age of 16-20 years.

She said that the sports directorate wanted to develop a pool of talented girls in different games to prepare players to represent the province in the inter-provincial, national junior and senior games. The official said the government wanted to provide equal opportunities to the female players across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa including merged districts, adding that camps would also be set up in other districts.

She said that two national gold medalists Momina Khan and Nazia Ali along with qualified coach and Secretary KP Taekwondo Association Waqar Afridi were imparting training and coaching to the girls. Tahir Iqbal and Fazal Mehmood are imparting training to squash players.

She said that 20 girls each in Taekwondo and Squash were currently in the camps, which would continue for 10 days. She said during the camps the girls would be provided all facilities including kits and sports gear.

The Taekwondo camp players included Bushra, Safina, Nabila, Laiba Mary, Muqqaddas, Waheeda, Iqra Wakil, Jawaria Mujahid, Areeba Farooq, Laiba Jjaz, Sameeda Shaukat Ali, Seema, Wannia, Kulsoom, Shamka and Nadia Shahzad with two coaches Nazia Ali and Mamoona.

The squash camp was attended by Zohra Abdullah, Kulsoom Abdullah, Sana Bahadur, Hira Aqeel, Manahil Aqeel, Ghazala, Nimra Aqeel, Wajiha Altaf, Naheed, Hifsa. Tahir Iqbal and Fazal Mehmood are the coaches.

The series of training camps is going on for boys as well as girls under the auspices of the Provincial Sports Department.

In the first phase, more than 50 table tennis and badminton players received training under the supervision of qualified coaches in Abbottabad and Swat.

After taekwondo and squash, camps for athletics and other games will also be organized. The official said the training camp would enhance the skills of the players and give opportunities not only to national players but also to young boys and girls so that they could reach national and international levels.