THE NEWS

 

THE NEWS CORRESPONDENT
 
KARACHI: Pakistan Boxing Federation (PBF) confirmed on Saturday that the country’s star boxer Mohammad Waseem will feature in the 52kg, the weight category of his choice, in the Asian Qualifying round for Olympics penciled in for April 4-13 in Astana (Kazakhstan).

“Yes, Waseem will play in the 52kg in the Asian Qualifying round,” PBF secretary Mohammad Akram Khan told ‘The News’.

Waseem featured in the 52kg in the World Championship in Baku last year only after the International Boxing Association (AIBA) stopped Britain-born Haroon Khan on the plea that the English lad of Pakistani origin had already represented England at youth level and was not eligible to represent Pakistan in the Olympics.

The Quetta-born Waseem, who has to his credit eight international medals in the last three years, was kept under pressure by the PBF for reducing his weight so that they could provide an opportunity to Haroon in the 52kg in the World Championship. However, Waseem silenced all his critics and proved that he is the best option available with Pakistan in the 52kg when he clinched gold medal in the second edition of Shaheed Benazir Bhutto International Boxing tournament in Islamabad in December last year.

On the other hand Haroon lost to India’s Madan Lal in his 52kg quarter-final. The demoralising defeat forced Haroon to skip the Asian Qualifying round.

“Yes, Haroon will not come. He cannot reduce or increase his weight,” Akram said. “But he will surely represent Pakistan in international circuit in future,” the PBF official said.

It is expected that Pakistan will field six boxers in the Asian Qualifiers.

Currently the preparatory camp for the Asian Qualifiers is in operation in Islamabad. According to Akram, around 11 boxers are attending the camp while Ghulam Mustafa and Zulqarnain will join after Army’s Inter-Unit competitions to be held in the first week of next month.

Akram said that the final squad for the Astana event would be finalised after three weeks.

He revealed that PBF also plans to send these boxers to Kazakhstan for month-long training ahead of the qualifiers. “We have almost made the tour of Kazakhstan final and have also made reservations for six boxers and two officials,” Akram said.

Pakistani boxers will undergo training at the Kazakhstan academy which will not only help them fully acclimatise with the local conditions but will also provide them ample chance to do sparring with the best boxers of the host and other countries.

In the World Championship in Baku last year which also served as qualifiers for Olympics, Pakistan fielded three boxers, Mohammad Waseem, Aamir Khan and Mohammad Hussain, but all of them failed to live up to the expectations. No Pakistani boxer qualified for the 2008 Beijing Olympics.