ISLAMABAD, Mar 4: Pakistan weightlifters are shaping up well for this month's SAF Games and stand a good chance of winning medals, a top official said on Thursday.
Muzaffar A. Qureshi, secretary of the Pakistan Weightlifting Federation (PWF) said that the boys were getting into rhythm and he was now hopeful that they would do well at the Games.
Pakistan have chosen a strong 10-man squad for the March 29 to April 7 Games in Islamabad that includes among others M. Irfan Islam, Shahbaz Abdullah Butt and Sajjad Amin Malik. "I think India have better weightlifters in lower body weights but we have an edge in the higher weight categories," Qureshi said.
The PWF had chosen 16 lifters on the basis of their performance in the National Championship last October with the camp starting in the same month. A few changes were then made following the Quaid-e-Azam Championship and the preliminary trials took place on Jan 30. "We had almost finalised the team at that time."
Qureshi said a few of their good weightlifters had chosen not to make themselves available for the Games this time. "They were not happy because of repeated postponements of the SAF Games."
Originally scheduled for October 2001, the 9th edition of the Games had to be postponed three times for varying reasons. But Qureshi made it clear that the lifters chosen in their place were equally good and there was no cause for concern.
The Pakistan squad: Ishtiaq Ghafoor (56 kgs), Akbar Ali (62), M. Irfan Islam and Tariq Azam (77), Shahbaz Abdullah Butt (69), Shujauddin Malik and Khurrum Shahzad (85), Hassan Aslam (94), Sajjad Amin Malik (105), Alam Din (+105). Hafiz Imran Butt (manager), Farooq Iqbal (assistant manager), Alexander Marinov (chief coach), Azmatullah Chaudhry (coach).
