Pakistan zurkhaneh team to feature in Korea event
Sunday, September 21, 2008
By Alam Zeb Safi
KARACHI: An eight-member Pakistan zurkhaneh team will leave for Korea on Wednesday to participate in the World Trex Games, slated to be held in Busan from September 26 to October 4, a top official of the Pakistan Zurkhaneh Federation (PZF) told ‘The News’ on Saturday.
The secretary of the PZF Arbab Naseer told this correspondent from Peshawar that a balanced side has been picked, saying he is optimistic that the team will finish at the respectable place in the mega event in which around 4000 athletes from across the world will show their worth.
“Though this sport, having its roots in the ancient Iranian culture, is in its nascent stage in Pakistan but we have made great progress in a couple of years. We have good players in our side and they are capable of springing surprises in the Busan event,” the secretary said.
“The last Asian Championship held in Nepal in July this year had really encouraged us as in that event in which 22 countries from Asia had participated Pakistan had finished at the respectable third place,” Arbab Naseer, who is also the joint secretary of Pakistan Kabaddi Federation (PKF), said.
He informed that most of the boys in the team belong to the North West Frontier Province (NWFP), saying Yousuf Raza from Lahore is a fresh welcome addition to the side.
“Yousuf Raza, a wrestler from Lahore has added to the strength of the Pakistan zurkhaneh team and I hope the unit will perform upto the expectations in Busan affair and will finish in the top three,” he said.
To a question he said a couple of years back PZF had got the services of two Iranian coaches, saying the experts had trained the boys for around two months and that helped the players learn about the techniques of the sport.
He said because of the non-Olympic status of the sport, the federation has been facing great difficulties in getting sponsorship for sending its team abroad.
However, he said that the NWFP government and the International Zurkhaneh Sports Federation (IZSF) is helping the PZF for sending the team to Korea.
Squad: Nouman Ahmad (captain), Zakir Ali Khan, Sardar Ali, Baleekh Uddin, Arbab Sardar, Farhatullah Khan, Izaz Ahmad (all from NWFP), Yousuf Riaz (Lahore), Sahibzada Fazal Amin (Chef de Mission), Arbab Naseer (manager).