KARACHI: The Pakistan Boxing Federation (PBF) has planned three foreign training tours next year to ensure the best possible preparation of its pugilists before the Olympics qualifiers.
The PBF Secretary Akram Khan said the players will travel to London, Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan before the World Championship in Azerbaijan that starts in September and also serves as the first qualifiers for the 2012 London Olympics.
“We have finalised the plan for the England tour where we will send three of our top boxers for training in February,” Khan told The Express Tribune. “We will also send five players to Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. The idea is to prepare our boxers for the Olympics qualifiers as we want maximum participation in the Olympics.”
He said Pakistan will send eight boxers to the World Championship where the quarter-finalists would qualify for the London Olympics.
“In 2012, Pakistan will also feature in two more Olympics qualifying events in Kazakhstan and Philippines.”
Meanwhile, the federation has also planned its boxers’ participation in various international tournaments in 2011. The pugilists will compete in Hungary before featuring in the Kings Cup in Bangkok. They would also take part in the annual Ahmed Comart Championship in Istanbul in April.
“Our boxers need a lot of training and aspiring fights in order to be well prepared for the Olympics qualifiers.”
International event in Pakistan
The secretary said the federation has also chalked out a comprehensive plan for holding an international event in Pakistan along the lines of the Shaheed Benazir Bhutto International Boxing Championship that saw nearly 50 countries send their representatives to.
“We will hold the tournament either in the last week of March or the first week of April. Many African and Asian countries have already confirmed their participation in the event.”
Published in The Express Tribune, December 31st, 2010.
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ