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PBF names five-man squad Back To Main

KARACHI: Pakistan on Saturday announced a five-member boxing squad for the Asian Qualifying round for Olympics to be hosted by Kazakhstan in Astana from April 4-13.

Mohammad Nisar Sona (49kg), Mohammad Waseem (52kg), Niamatullah (56kg), Qadir Khan (60kg) and Haider Riaz (64kg) are the pugilists who will show their worth in the qualifiers, the last chance for them to book seats in the London Olympics to be held in July-August this year. Majeed Braho will accompany the pugilists as coach.

“We picked the top five players after severe sparring and tough trials in the federal capital,” Pakistan Boxing Federation (PBF) secretary Mohammad Akram Khan told ‘The News’ from Islamabad on Saturday.

Pakistan has pinned its hope on Mohammad Waseem who has collected over half a dozen international medals, including a bronze in the Delhi Commonwealth Games, during the last two and a half years. Mohammad Nisar is another talented boy, from Navy.

He picked up a bronze medal in the recent Second Shaheed Benazir Bhutto International Boxing tournament in Islamabad. “Nisar is a good boxer. If he focused on his job and played with determination I am sure he would be able to spring surprise,” Akram said. “In the 49kg, countries like India, South Korea, China, Mongolia, Thailand are not featuring as they have already made to the Olympics in this weight category and I am sure that if the draws were a little bit easy then Nisar would get through,” added Akram.

He also expects top performance from the country’s experienced boxer Mohammad Waseem who was the only boxer to lift gold medal in the Islamabad international event last year out of the 34 boxers the hosts fielded in the big event. “Waseem is our main hope, although fight in his weight category is fairly tough as there will be 21 boxers fighting for the London seat.”

The five boxers named will go to India on March 12 to feature in the one-night fight to be held there from March 12 to 15. On March 15 they will return and fly for Kazakhstan on March 17 to take part in the joint training camp in the Kazakhstan international academy, he said.