LAHORE: Pakistan Badminton Federation’s secretary Wajid Ali said here on Monday that while both Pakistan and India are in the same pool ‘A’ at the Commonwealth Games badminton event, the national team’s chances of qualifying for the quarterfinals are quite bright.

Wajid, who had the honour of being the national champion from 2000 to 2008, told Dawn that a strong team comprising two men and two women has been picked on their best national ranking and they are going through extensive training at the camp in preparation for the CW Games which will be held in Gold Coast, Australia from April 4-15.

A total of 16 teams would vie for the top honours in the badminton event at the Games and they have been divided into four pools. Pakistan, India, Scotland and Sri Lanka are placed in Pool-A.

“Pakistan will give its 100 per cent performance and will do its best to finish among the top two positions in the pool,” said Wajid who had also represented the country in the Commonwealth Games in 1998, 2002 and 2006 editions. “India, of course, also has a very strong team and the competition will be quite exciting between the arch-rivals I am sure.” Pakistan will meet India on April 5.

He said in the men’s team, two top ranked players namely Hafiz Irfan Saeed and Murad Ali have been included, while in the women’s category Mahoor Shahzad and a seasoned campaigner Palwasha Bashir would represent the country.

“All the four players have had a fair amount of international experience in the past and they are in a position to bring good results for Pakistan,” Wajid said. “Our first target is to make the last eight and that would be a big achievement for us.”

He said tough competition was existing at the world level in the game of badminton, but lacking in providing the proper facilities to the players, was creating hurdle in the way of Pakistan to emerge as one of the formidable nation.

Wajid is also accompanying the team as manager while Iftikhar Hussain is the head coach, under whose training both the teams are attending the camp.

In pool ‘B’, Singapore, Mauritius, Zambia and Jamaica are included, while the pool ‘C’ has England, Australia, South Africa and Uganda. In pool ‘D’, Malaysia, Canada, Seychelies and Ghana are included.

Published in Dawn, February 20th, 2018