By IANS,
Karachi : Pakistan’s pugilists are awaiting the arrival of Cuban coach Francisco Roland, hired by the country’s sports authorities, to lift the dipping standard of Pakistan boxing.
A Pakistan Boxing Federation (PBF) spokesman told IANS here Monday that Roland is expected to arrive in Karachi next week and will get to the job right away. The PBF wants Roland to train leading national boxers for the qualifying rounds of the 2010 Olympic Games in London.
“We have a series of important assignments coming up in the next few years and want to train our boxers accordingly,” the PBF spokesman said.
Boxing is the only sport apart from hockey and wrestling in which Pakistan has won an Olympic medal.
Pakistan was regarded as a major force at the Asian level in boxing but has lost that status in recent years. The results at the ongoing World Boxing Championship in Milan affirms this.
Pakistan had fielded five boxers in the competition but neither of them was able to go beyond the second round. Even Pakistan’s former Asian Games champion Mehrullah Lassi, bowed out of the competition without putting up much of a fight.
Pakistani officials are hoping that Roland, an experienced Cuban coach, will be able to help the national boxers do well in the qualification rounds of the London Olympics.
The major events for Pakistani boxers include the South Asian Games, Asian Games and Commonwealth Games before the all-important London Olympiad.