PESHAWAR, July 8: Secretary Pakistan Judo Federation (PJF), Mahmood Naveed, on Friday revealed that the services of an Iranian coach have been hired with a view to improve the performance of the players so they could compete in the international events and win honours.

Talking to reporters on the occasion of his visit to the three-day training camp for the NWFP players, the PJF official believed that Pakistan was capable of becoming one of the top teams of the region in a couple of years time.

He claimed that the federation was trying its level best to hold more international competitions and talks were in progress with India for playing against one another in near future.

About women players, he said that a women training camp had already been held in Lahore and a national level competition would be organized soon.

“The Iranian coach would arrive in Pakistan this month. The federation has signed an agreement with the coach for the next two years that also covers SAF Games,” he said, adding that within a span of two years, the performance of the judo players would improve.