Seoul trip will help our boxers, says coach
Wednesday, June 03, 2009
By Alam Zeb Safi
KARACHI: The coach of Pakistan boxing team Ali Bakhsh has termed the month-long training programme of the national pugilists in Seoul fruitful and said the outcome of this strenuous exercise in South Korea will be best known when the boys will enter into the ring during the Asian Championship to be held in China from June 7-14.
“It was a productive trip to South Korea where the boxers learnt a lot. We trained the boys in four different cities of South Korea where they not only did sparring with the Korean boxers but also featured in different competitions,” Ali Bakhsh told ‘The News’ in an interview after the return of the 16-member squad here on Tuesday morning.
“The hectic training in Seoul has boosted the mental level of the boxers and their morale is now quite high and they are ready for the coming assignment in China,” the coach said. It is pertinent to mention here that Pakistan are fielding six boxers in the Asian Boxing Championship to be held in China from June 7-14.
Nadir (48kg), Muhammad Wasim (51kg), Ali Muhammad (54kg), Qadir Khan (57kg), Tariq Zia (60kg) and Nisar Khan (75kg) have been already picked for the event. The team will leave on Friday for China to feature in the challenging assignment.
Ali Bakhsh, who will also coach the Pakistan squad during the Asian Championship in China later this week, pointed out, “We had this fear in our heart that the Korean boxers are more improved and ultimately we got the point that they land counter-punches which earn them victories. We tried to train our boxers accordingly which will help them bring improvement in their performance during international assignments in the future.
“The environment also matters a lot and our boxers now look more improved both physically and psychologically after undergoing training with the experienced boxers of South Korea,” he said.
He said that the best available boxers in different weight categories have been picked for the Asian Championship, saying the results in China will show how much the boys have gained through 25-day training in Seoul.
About the Asian gold medallist Mehrullah Lassi the coach said, “We did not consider him for the China tour because his performance during training in Seoul was far below the required standard. We have decided not to field him in international competitions unless he gets his fitness and form back. He will continue doing practice in the camp and will be considered when he will regain his lost lustre.”
(Source: thenews.com.pk)
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