LAHORE: Wrestler Inam Butt, who claimed the solitary gold medal for Pakistan in the recently concluded 21st Commonwealth Games on Gold Coast, Australia, says if the government gives proper attention to wrestling and weightlifting the country’s athletes have the potential to win more medals in international competitions.

Talking to reporters after arriving here from Australia on Wednesday morning, Inam said both government and private sector should come forward to support the country’s wrestlers and weightlifters who he said had enough talent to excel at the international level.

The Pakistan Wrestling Federation (PWF) extended a rousing welcome to the wrestlers — Inam (86kg), Mohammad Bilal (57kg) and Tayyab Raza (125kg) — for winning one gold and two bronze medals.

The government, Inam said, should invest on wrestlers and weightlifters, noting India had been spending handsomely on its wrestlers whom he noted received six-month training in the US prior to the Gold Coast Games. “Whereas Pakistani wrestlers could [barely] attend a 15-day training camp in Iran.”

Victory on Gold Coast brought the second gold medal for Inam who had won a gold at the 2010 Commonwealth Games held in New Delhi. Claiming a gold medal after eight years signals the 29-year-old wrestler has become physically and technically stronger.

Speaking on the occasion, PWF secretary Arshad Sattar while praising the medal-winning wrestlers emphasised they need to increase hard work in order to clinch medals at this year’s Asian Games being held in Indonesia in August-September.

Meanwhile, Bilal and Tayyab regretted they could not earn gold medals but were satisfied at earning bronze. Both vowed they would put in extra efforts to produce better results at the Asian Games.

The three wrestlers while thanking the PWF, coaches and trainers for their contribution in the training urged the nation to pray for more success for them in future.

Meanwhile, Pakistan’s hockey squad also arrived from Gold Coast at the Lahore airport.

Rehan Butt, the assistant coach, in a brief chat with media said though the national team could not qualify for the semi-finals, they displayed improved performance playing draws against arch-rivals India, England and Malaysia — the teams which had handed Pakistan heavy defeats in the recent past.

“Though playing a draw against Wales in the opening match [on Gold Coast] was disappointing but later in the event our team improved their game against all the rivals,” said the coach.

Comprehensive planning, Rehan stressed, would be made for the Champions Trophy, Asian Games and the all-important World Cup — the three high-profile events to be held later this year.

Published in Dawn, April 19th, 2018