My topics of dialogue as we speak are the nation’s premier equestrian Usman Khan and the Pakistan Underneath-16 volleyball group.
Usman as soon as once more made Pakistan proud when he topped the Group F of the FEI four-star occasion in Eire a couple of days in the past to blast his method into the 2024 Paris Olympics.
That is the second time that he has made it to the world’s most prestigious extravaganza, to be held in Paris subsequent summer time.
The Melbourne-based eventer had certified for the Tokyo Olympics in 2019 however his horse Azad Kashmir died and he needed to revise the qualification. He did nicely within the Qualifiers once more however met with an accident in Australia within the Qualifier when his horse Kasheer fell simply earlier than the end line which resulted in his dying and critical accidents to Usman who took months to get better.
Usman was left unconscious and was taken to hospital for remedy. Once I broke the story of the unlucky accident it shocked everybody who knew Usman and the laborious work he had achieved for qualifying for the Olympics. But it surely was not his destiny.
After this incident Usman went into oblivion. He recomposed himself and made a powerful comeback with a brand new horse. He featured silently in occasions of varied high quality earlier than pulling off a serious breakthrough in Eire which as soon as once more made Pakistan proud.
Usman should work tougher to take care of his standings within the subsequent few months throughout which he’ll play all of his four-star occasions in Europe.
Europe is extraordinarily costly for Usman, who’s a son of a former Military officer. To date throughout his two years exploits in Europe he has spent round Rs90 million which is a large quantity.
Transferring to numerous venues alongside together with his horse, which is now an Olympian, numerous logistics issues and sustaining teaching employees are actually laborious for a person athlete.
Usman undoubtedly will want monetary assist from Pakistan’s authorities and company sector each at house and overseas. Pakistan’s embassies in Europe have to take care of the Olympian who has been working laborious for a few many years to hoist Pakistan’s flag in equestrian on the world’s main sporting occasion.
Equestrian is a particularly costly sport and even buying a superb horse is a matter of round 100 million rupees as of late.
It might be of excessive worth if the Equestrian Federation of Pakistan (EFP) and our authorities backed the endeavours of Usman who’s on a serious mission.
Surprisingly, regardless of qualifying for the Asian Video games, Usman just isn’t being despatched to function within the quadrennial occasion. His entry has not been despatched to the Pakistan Olympic Affiliation (POA) by his federation.
I feel he ought to have been despatched to China because the occasion may have helped him get extra expertise.
He’s now a mature eventer and Pakistan ought to be happy with his achievements.
Let’s come to the Pakistan under-16 volleyball group. A couple of days in the past Pakistan under-16 boys confirmed class efficiency and clinched the silver medal within the Central Asian Volleyball Affiliation (CAVA) under-16 Volleyball Championship in Tashkent.
The group did so by beating robust Iran and Kazakhstan within the four-nation occasion.
Simply after a couple of days the identical colts completed fourth within the 1st Males’s Underneath-16 Asian Championship additionally in Tashkent.
They have been unfortunate to lose a bronze medal conflict in opposition to Chinese language Taipei whom they’d crushed within the group stage in straight units. Had Pakistan bought the bronze medal they’d have certified for the Underneath-17 World Championship to be held subsequent 12 months.
Leaving an impression on their debut worldwide occasions is mostly a good thing for Pakistan’s future in volleyball.
The authorities have to concentrate on this bunch which has nice expertise. They need to maintain giving this lot publicity and within the subsequent few years most of them would be capable to get to the nationwide senior group which has been struggling within the Asian circuit for the final three many years — Pakistan completed fourth within the Asian Senior Championship in Seoul in 1989.
Pakistan under-16 group’s fall in opposition to Chinese language Taipei within the bronze medal present was because of diet problems with the gamers. After speaking to the gamers at a reception held of their honour by the authorities at Lahore Gymkhana a couple of days in the past I used to be satisfied that they didn’t get the required meals which is required for holding the gamers energised particularly once they needed to play 9 matches in a row.
The authorities ought to have given numerous added food regimen as you can not win stress video games with out taking correct food regimen. The gamers stored consuming pumpkins the place they wanted to take meals wealthy in protein, carbohydrates and likewise wanted to get dietary supplements.
I hope the Pakistan Volleyball Federation (PVF) will look into this difficulty in future.
One other factor which I wish to spotlight right here is that within the under-16 squad ten gamers have been from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa whereas two have been from Punjab.
The PVF ought to focus extra on KP which has been feeding the nationwide groups. It might be of excessive worth if the PVF president got here from KP, which is the hub of volleyball. I hope sooner or later PVF will take into account these items.
I respect PVF which handed over Rs100,000 every to the gamers and officers of the under-16 lot following the profitable tour of Tashkent. This should have instilled a brand new hope within the colts.