South Asian Games: PBF still waiting for Cuban coach’s arrival

Deadline for boxing squads’ entries end on January 5

KARACHI: The Pakistan Boxing Federation (PBF) is still waiting for Cuban coach Bernardo Comas Aguilera to join the national men’s camp in Karachi for the upcoming South Asian Games (SAG) in India.

According to PBF secretary Iqbal Hussain, Aguilera was scheduled to arrive in Karachi last week and the deadline for the final squad entries announced by the Indian SAG Organising Committee is January 5.

However, the Cuban consulate has been unable to give a plausible explanation for the coach’s non-arrival.

“We’re waiting for him and it will be best if he can come by January 5,” Hussain told The Express Tribune. “We need to send the final entries for SAG by Tuesday. If he isn’t here by then, the squad will have to attend the Games without him.”

The regional event will kick off on February 5 in Guwahati and Shillong.

So far, the federation has planned to send entries for pugilists in seven weight categories, while three female boxers will also debut at the Games for Pakistan.

Currently, the boxers are being trained by a panel of three AIBA-qualified coaches headed by Ali Bux.

“If Aguilera joins after January 5, he can still train the boys for the Games,” said Hussain. “Thereafter, Aguilera’s main event will be the Rio Olympics qualifiers in China in March.”

Published in The Express Tribune, January 3^rd, 2016.

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