Inam hopes Mongolia training will boost medal prospects

KARACHI: Pakistan’s premier wrestler Mohammad Inam is happy with his training in Mongolia ahead of the Asian Championship which is scheduled to be held in Ulaanbaatar from April 19-24.

“Thank God, training is going very well in two sessions here,” Inam told ‘The News’ from Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. “Besides mat sessions, work is also being done on physical fitness. I have played three matches here and won them all. We are training with both local and international wrestlers here. It’s a good thing for us that we have come here well before the Asian Championship and are doing our training in an excellent environment,” Inam said.

“And I will thank Pakistan Wrestling Federation (PWF) for sending us early,” Inam was quick to add.

Ulaanbaatar is a hill station which has extremely cold weather.

“We were training in 35 to 36 degree Celsius in Lahore and here we are training in a temperature which also goes to minus 10 as this place is like a hill-station,” Inam informed.

“We are trying to get acclimated with the conditions and hopefully good results will come. You know Asian level is equal to Olympic level as the world’s top players belong to this belt and we are confident to win medals for Pakistan in the Asian Championship,” he said.

The tour also will help Inam to prepare for the Commonwealth Games pencilled in for July 28 to August 8 in Birmingham.

Inam will defend his title in Birmingham; in the 2018 Commonwealth Games held in Gold Coast, Australia he won a gold medal.

Besides Inam, Youth Olympics bronze medallist Inayatullah is training in Mongolia.

Pakistan have picked three wrestlers for the Asian Championship. Inam and Inayat are in Mongolia to undergo a 15-day training ahead of the continental event while the third wrestler Mohammad Bilal will fly out of Lahore for Mongolia on April 19 to also feature in the Asian Championship.

Bilal, however, has been unable to make a place in the national wrestling squad for the Commonwealth Games.

Meanwhile coach Ghulam Fareed told ‘The News’ from Mongolia that its a good thing that the leading wrestlers are training at the international level.

“Yes, the training session is in progress. Around ten countries have reached. It’s a good opportunity for us that we are training at the international level,” Fareed told this correspondent.

“You know Ulaanbaatar is a hilly area and here oxygen is a bit low and we also get some time to work on cardio. The weather environment also has become suitable and good results are coming. The matches, which we have played so far, went well and both Inam and Inayatullah won their matches,” Fareed said, adding that they were doing training in two sessions and had also arranged three competitions in a week in order to get experienced with the local clubs and their international players.

“InshaAllah we will return from the Asian Championship with a medal,” Fareed hoped.

The Asian Championship will be the final international event for the national wrestlers ahead of the Commonwealth Games. After this event PWF also plans to manage another foreign tour for its grapplers to prepare further for the Birmingham competition which is the main target for the federation.