Pakistan squad gears up for Asian Athletics Championship

Since pulling off a record gold in the last year’s Paris Olympics with a massive 92.97m-throw, Arshad Nadeem will be seen in action for the first time at the continental platform later this month in Korea.

Arshad, along with four other national athletes, is set to feature in the Asian Championship penciled in for May 27-31 in Gumi, South Korea.

Pakistan’s No2 javelin thrower Yasir Sultan, 400m specialists Shajar Abbas and Mueed Baloch and female sprinter Tameen Khan will also accompany Arshad who will return to action almost after ten months.

Arshad, who also has to his credit silver medal in the World Championship, has been training at the Punjab Stadium Lahore under Salman Butt, his coach.

“Yes, he is in good shape,” Butt told Nukta.

Arshad is now the world’s top javelin thrower having engineered a record throw in Olympics which is a huge achievement.

The Asian Championship also will serve as qualifier for the World Championship which will be held in September in Tokyo. Arshad will need to at least manage a throw of 85.50m to qualify for the global event, the one which will be the main focus of Arshad as he will be trying to pull off gold in Tokyo, something which is expected from the Olympic champion.

As per rules, the qualifying cycle for the World Championship is one year and it is mandatory for any athlete to acquire the qualifying standard in any event in a 12-month time.

Arshad is upbeat ahead of the Asian Championship.

“Yes, I am doing well,” Arshad told Nukta.

Meanwhile, Yasir Sultan is also expected to pull off his best throw in the continental event.

“I am ready for a major breakthrough,” Yasir told this correspondent.

“I have worked hard and this time I will be trying my level best to achieve my desired target,” said Yasir, also the bronze medalist of the previous Asian Championship.

Yasir’s coach Fayyaz Bukhari is also optimistic about Yasir’s success.

“We have managed the desired throw in training and I hope Yasir will do well in Korea,” Fayyaz told Nukta.

Fayyaz has been associated with Yasir for the last two years after having trained Arshad for long eight years and took him to the Tokyo Olympics.

Shajar Abbas, a former 100 and 200m specialist, will feature in the 400m at the major stage.

It is also expected that he will deliver in his event after he switched over from 100m and 200m with the aim to produce a medal at the Asian level.

Shajar is undergoing training in Islamabad and he will also join the rest of the athletes in Lahore in the next few days.

Mueed Baloch is also a solid runner and has been representing Pakistan for the last few years. He is undergoing training at Karachi.

Tameen Khan, Pakistan’s new sprint queen, is undergoing training at Peshawar’s PAF Sports Complex. Her morale is high before the continental showpiece.

“Yes, I am hopeful I will do my best and will pull off my best timing at the major stage,” Tameen told Nukta.

“It’s a major platform which will be flooded by major athletes of the continent, and it will help me a lot to learn from which will leave a major impact on my future career,” said Tameen, who is a law graduate.

Fayyaz Bukhari will accompany the side as coach-cum-manager while Rana Sajjad will be acting as coach. Salman Butt will also be part of the contingent. He will act as coordinator as well as represent the Asian Athletics Association (AAA) as its Director Development.