Female trio hoping to make nation proud

Karatekas Nargis, Nazish and Shahida eyeing top prize in Dubai Open.

KARACHI: Quetta’s women have come to the fore in karate as Nazish Gul, Nargis and Shahida will be competing in the 2016 Dubai Open, scheduled to commence today at the alAhli Club in Dubai.

Nargis will be competing in the -68kg event, Nazish in the -55kg event, while Shahida will feature in the in -50kg event.

Coach Khalid Noor, who praised the trio, revealed this is the first time that female karatekas from Balochistan will be participating in an international competition.



“We were amazed at how talented they were even at the U15 level,” Noor told The Express Tribune. “This is the first time girls from Balochistan are going abroad for an event as big as the Dubai Open.”

Noor further revealed that Nargis, Nazish and Shahida trained for almost a month with him in Lahore, where they practiced the kata technique — the trio will participate in the team kata event in Dubai as well.

While talking about how women need international experience to improve, Noor said that the Pakistan Karate Federation (PKF) has been trying hard to get the girls to international events such as the South Asian Games but the organisers excluded the events from the Games, leaving the team disheartened.



However, he added that the girls are buzzing to prove themselves and the event in Dubai provides the perfect platform.

Meanwhile, 15-year-old Naimatullah will be competing in the juniors’ championship and 2014 US Open champion Saadi Abbas will compete in the 67kg event.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 7^th,  2016.

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