PHOTO: AFP
KARACHI: Pakistan made their mark at the World Belt Wrestling Championships and Martial Arts Masterships as the country bagged two gold medals and one silver medal in South Korea.
The winning team returned to Pakistan late Friday night as Muhammad Ali won the gold medal after defeating a Korean athlete in his final in the -75 kg event, Ahmed Butt dominated the open weight category final against a Mongolian wrestler and Naimatullah bagged a silver medal in the -85kg, where he lost to another Mongolian player in his event.
“We took three athletes at this championship and it’s amazing that all three have returned with medals,” team manager Tariq Ali told The Express Tribune.
Explaining the mechanics of the event, the official said, “Belt wrestling is a bit different from regular wrestling; it incorporates techniques of judo and other martial arts too.
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“So we chose Butt and Ali from jiu-jitsu, while Naimatullah is a former wrestler.”
Tariq believes Pakistan’s participation in the belt wrestling event is an important step for the country to prepare for the Asian Indoor Martial Arts games that will take place next year.
He added that all three athletes trained at the Pakistan Sports Board camp in Lahore along with 17 other players. “We had provided almost a month-long training to the players and are happy they achieved such good results after just brief training.”
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For Naimatullah, his silver medal at the championship that was featuring 85 countries was a special one.
“I got home and showed the medal to my father Zahid Khan, who was a three-time South Asian Games participant and had been a silver medallist in the Asian wrestling event in 1998,” said the Peshawar-based athlete. “Belt wrestling is different, but this sport gave me the opportunity to make my country proud.”
Published in The Express Tribune, September 11th, 2016.
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