Karate preparing for Asian Championship

Federation hopeful of good results despite cancellation of training in Iran

KARACHI: The Pakistan Karate Federation (PKF) remains unperturbed by the cancellation of their training tour to Iran and is hoping for the best result at the 2015 Asian Championship in Japan in September.

The Pakistani contingent, training in Islamabad since May, was scheduled to visit Iran for a two-week training programme from June 4.

According to PKF secretary Shamim Hashmi, the tour was cancelled as four of the athletes fell sick. “We dropped the idea of going to Iran due to unavoidable reasons,” Hashmi told The Express Tribune. “Our athletes aren’t in good shape, and we thought that it’s best to cancel the trip.”

Hashmi said that despite the setback, he is hoping for a good result at the Asian Championship with top athlete Saadi Abbas to lead the way in the 67kg event.

Saadi has already won a gold medal from two appearances at the tournament. “The Iran tour would’ve been helpful but we have plenty of time [for the Asian Championship],” said Hashmi. “We have expectations from Saadi as he has always performed well for Pakistan.”

The official added that Pakistan will also compete at the Commonwealth Karate Championship, which is scheduled to take place in India this year. “We are waiting for India to finalise the dates for the Commonwealth event. We are prepared, but concerns remain on whether we would get the visas from Delhi in time. It will be an eventful year for us if we compete at the two championships,” concluded Hashmi.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 14^th, 2015.

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