Haroon satisfied with performance in Jordon qualifiers

KARACHI: Having narrowly missed the Olympics seat after losing in the semi-final in the Asian Qualifiers in Jordan on Saturday, Pakistan’s seasoned taekwondo fighter Haroon Khan said he was confident to qualify but it was not in his “fate” although he had put in his best effort.

“I had no fear and was very much confident that I would beat Thailand’s fighter in the semi-final but it was not in my fate,” Haroon told ‘The News’ in an interview from Jordan on Sunday just ahead of Pakistan’s squad return flight.

Haroon lost to Thailand’s Ramnarong Sawek Wiharee in the -58 kilogramme semi-final which was a do-or-die fight as the top two fighters had to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics. The Thailander was Asia No1 and World No15 but Haroon fought bravely against him, falling 26-32, an effort which was appreciated by the experts of various countries witnessing the fight.

“Yes, the Thailander was beatable but you know we could not prepare the way we should have mainly because of the Covid issues,” Haroon said.

“The federation did a good job, arranging a camp and accommodation under good coaching staff. It also wrote to Bulgaria, Uzbekistan and a few other countries for our training tours but due to Covid these could not be made possible. Had we got some exposure ahead of the qualifiers the outcome could have been different,” Haroon said.

He said that he also had ring rustiness which was an issue. “You know, first due to injury I remained out for one and a half year and then Covid issues impeded my training. But it has become clear through my fight that we are not far behind and have the capability to qualify,” Haroon said. “Levels alter depending on your training and the opponents’ training. The fighters with me featuring in Jordan had been to various countries and were better prepared. But it happens in sports,” he said.

“In taekwondo Pakistan has a lot of talent and keeping in view the 2024 Olympics things can change. We can qualify if we get the required training in future,” said Haroon, who has the experience of playing in various countries.

Haroon will now fight for the Olympics seat on the IOC Tripartite Commission places.

Haroon now targets the international events in the next two years. “The next two years are loaded with events, much richer events and I will focus on them,” said the Quetta-born fighter, who has played some tough games against the world beaters in his career.

“You know Commonwealth Games, Asian Games, Islamic Games and South Asian Games are important events and I can win medals in them,” Haroon said.

He also appreciated England-based Aneela who also did well in the Jordan qualifiers. “She won one fight and did well. She trained with the British team in Manchester and that helped her,” Haroon said.

Aneela got bye in the first round, beat Tajikistan’s fighter in the second round before falling to a Vietnamese Olympian fighter.

Pakistan’s Taimoor Saeed lost to Iran’s Amiri Ali Akbar 3-10 in the 87 kg quarter-finals. Cambodia’s Tubbs Casandre Nicole defeated Zoya Sabir of Pakistan 39-1 in the -57 kg category.

Pakistan Taekwondo Federation’s (PTF) president Col Wasim praised Haroon’s solid show in the qualifiers.

“Preparing for an important event like the Olympic qualifying round in the current situation was a big challenge for us and due to the hard work of our coaches and athletes, satisfactory results have been achieved,” Wasim said.

“We were patronised by the President Pakistan Olympic Association (POA) Lt Gen (R) Syed Arif Hasan while Army Sports Department supported us in terms of raining camp and in terms of airfare expenses we were backed by the South Asian Taekwondo Association President Omar Saeed,” Wasim said. Pakistan was the only South Asian country to have sent its team to Jordan.