Karate gold

T here is little support and even less money for the people taking part in sports other than cricket.

Few in Pakistan outside the world of martial arts will have ever heard of Saadi Abbas, who recently covered himself with glory and brought credit to the nation by winning gold in the US Karate Championship. His story is quite remarkable. It appears that he has no coach, is largely self-taught, has no corporate sponsors or state support, yet has gone on to reach the top of his class — the 67kg division of the sport. He is quoted as saying that he may now have to give up karate as he can no longer afford to fund his own international travel and other expenses. He is expecting to compete in the Asian Games in September, but even that may be in doubt.

Abbas was the first South Asian to win a gold medal in the Asian Karate Championship 2011, he won gold in South Africa in 2010 at the Commonwealth Champions games, going on to hold on to the title in Canada in 2011. With a track record like that, one would have thought that there would be sponsors queuing at his door, but like so many others taking part in sports other than cricket, there is little interest and even less money. There is a Pakistan Karate Federation, which is small and underfunded and struggles to make ends meet. The lack of corporate interest in minority sports is also reflected in the media coverage they get — if it is not cricket or possibly hockey then you will not be seeing it on your TV screens. Few schools include sports other than cricket in their curriculum and sports education in the country generally lags far behind even that in other developing countries. Abbas is pragmatic. He has no complaint against the Pakistan Karate Federation, recognising that its difficulties and limitations match his own. Limitations aside, he is looking forwards to representing his country in the Karate World Championships that take place three weeks after the Asian Games. Abbas is a proven winner and a credit to his country. The least his country could do is offer him the support he so richly deserves.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 29^th, 2014.

Like Opinion & Editorial on Facebook, follow @ETOpEd on Twitter to receive all updates on all our daily pieces.