ABBOTTABAD: A 10-member team of Pakistan Masters Weightlifting Association will participate in the first-ever Asian Masters Weightlifting Championship being held from May 27 to 31 in Doha, Qatar.

Four members of the team have been selected from Balochistan after 35 years to represent Pakistan. The last representation of Balochistan in national team was by Abdul Razzaq (52kg) at the 1990 Beijing Asian Games.

Arshad Khan Turk from Abbottabad will accompany the team as team leader, while three national gold medalists women master weightlifters will become the first-ever Pakistanis to represent the country at the Doha games.

The team includes Neelam Riaz, Nadia Masood, Saibil Sohail, Rashid Khan, Abdul Malik, Kashif Rehan, and Mohammad Iqbal; three official team leaders, including Arshad Khan Turk, team manager Syed Musawar Zaidi and assistant manager Umar Javed.

Arshad Turk expressed his satisfaction over the performance of national masters weightlifters during his visit to the training camps organised in Quetta and Lahore. He is confident that the team will win gold medals for the country at the event, where weightlifting athletes from 25 nations are also participating.

Published in Dawn, May 8th, 2025