March 26, 2008	Wednesday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 17, 1429

ISLAMABAD, March 25: Three Pakistan oarsmen are likely to be selected from among a total of eight who will be appearing in the one-day trials for the Beijing Olympics (Asian region) rowing qualifiers scheduled to be held on April 25 in Shanghai.

The trials will be held on Thursday at the Rawal Lake. The rowing squad will be coached by Mohammad Shahid and Irfan Mahmood while a Swiss coach Andrease Lechtifus will join Pakistan team in China, said an official of the Pakistan Rowing Federation (PRF) while talking to Dawn.

He further said that the team would be picked on merit, adding that to acclimatise to the local conditions the selected squad will leave for Shanghai early.

Pakistan will be participating in open weight singles scull and light weight doubles scull categories.

The oarsmen who have been invited for trials are Amjad Baig, Ali Hasan, Mohammad Akram, Asad Khan, Asim Ijaz, Zaigham Abbas, Nemat Karim and Asghar Ali.