Pakistan’s four-member boxing squad — two men and two women — is set to depart for the Asian Games in Nagoya, Japan, next week, with the sport’s federation secretary acknowledging the scale of the challenge ahead and calling for a long-term strategy to end a decade-long medal drought.
The squad heading to the 20th edition of the Games, which formally open on September 19, is among Pakistan’s smallest boxing contingents at a major Games in recent memory.
Pakistan Boxing Federation (PBF) secretary Major Irfan Younis, in an exclusive interview with Dawn earlier this week, said the sport’s recent Commonwealth Games bronze — the country’s first-ever Commonwealth medal in boxing, and the first Commonwealth medal for a Pakistani woiman — proved that the country’s boxers possess the talent to compete at the highest level.
That bronze came courtesy of Fatima Zehra, who reached the semi-finals of the women’s 60kg division at Glasgow before falling to Canada’s Marie-Bathoul Al-Ahmadieh, ending a wait that had stretched back 12 years for a Commonwealth boxing medal success for Pakistan.
“The only thing we lack is government support and international exposure,” Irfan told Dawn. “If these athletes don’t go abroad and compete, how can they match that level? International training is an absolute necessity.”
