KARACHI: Breaking all barriers, 14 girls were attending a 10-day first-ever boxing coaching camp in the densely populated Pak Shaheen Club in Kalri near the Peoples Sports Complex.

“All the trainees undergo 90-minute training daily which includes punching the sand bags, target training, sparring bouts,” camp commandant Mohammad Younus Qambrani told Dawn on Tuesday.

Since its commissioning on a small piece of land approximately 150 square yards, the club is catering to the uplift of boxing for the youth of the vicinity.

According to camp commandant who is also founding member of the institution, the club has produced a number of celebrated boxers including former Olympian Rasheed Qambrani, ex-SAF Games gold medallist Majeed Qambrani, Nisar Sona, Asif Kachi and Noor Badshah.

“This is just a beginning and will help in building confidence of womenfolk of the vicinity,” said club president Mohammad Hussain Qambrani.

“Previously unheard off, the school-going girls who mostly come from boxing families have been encouraged to come out of homes and train separately,” he said.

The girls have learnt the basics of the game and were seen training with the coach who is a fatherly figure.

The Sindh Boxing Association (SBA) secretary Asghar Baloch and vice-president Abid Brohi informed that another batch of 17 girls were going through the same drills under Naeem-ur-Rehman at North Karachi Gymkhana, Nagan Chowrangi.

Sponsored by the Sindh Sports Board (SSB), the camp is being organised by the SBA and concludes on Nov 8.

Published in Dawn, November 4th, 2015

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