Pakistan won their last medal in Olympics way back in 1992 when the national hockey team clinched bronze in Barcelona.

The country’s sports system has been ineffective, having failed to produce world beaters following the downfall of hockey in which the nation used to win the world’s major titles quite frequently.

Now Pakistan is so poor in hockey that the nation failed to make it to the Olympics for the second successive time. It’s time to focus on individual sports. So far five Pakistani players have qualified for Tokyo Olympics. And a few more are in line. Among them javelin thrower Arshad Nadeem is the biggest plus. His qualification has created a medal hope for Pakistan. Mian Channu-born Arshad made to Olympics through an amazing 86.29 metre throw at the 13th South Asian Games in Nepal last year.

In 2016 Rio Olympics, Germany’s Thomas Rohler with 90.30 metre throw claimed javelin gold, Julius Yego of Kenya with 88.24m finished with a silver, while Kishorn Walcott of Trinidad and Tobago with 85.38m secured bronze. This shows that Arshad is in the medal bracket and he needs just a push. It’s a happy moment for Arshad that Athletics Federation of Pakistan (AFP) has timely managed a deal with the world’s major athletics centre in Finland which will train the javelin thrower until Olympics.

The deal is ambitious. The AFP will have to manage a huge fund for backing Arshad’s Finland training. The state needs to support the cause by sponsoring Arshad’s training. The corporate sector needs to contribute to the cause. The centre in Kuortane will also manage for Arshad training tours of South Africa, Turkey and a few other countries which will help him prepare well for the Olympics.

The credit for making all this possible goes to the AFP chief Major General (retd) Akram Sahi who himself has been an international athlete. He knows well that Pakistan has a golden chance of winning a medal in Olympics.

If Arshad wins a medal in Tokyo it will be after 31 years that Pakistan will grab a medal in Olympics in an individual game and the first ever in athletics. In 1988 Seoul Olympics, boxer Hussain Shah claimed bronze, the second individual medal for the country. Wrestler Mohammad Bashir was the first Pakistani to win an individual medal when he won bronze in 1960 Rome Olympics. All the other medals were won by our hockey team.

More details of the AFP deal are yet to come but it is clear that Arshad is being sent to Kuortane, Finland, where he will be training by the best coaches of the world.

Arshad has a lot of potential. He achieved glory in the 13th South Asian Games with an Olympic qualification effort through normal training.

WAPDA, which employs Arshad, should contribute to his Finland’s tour which is expected to be made this month.

Arshad shot to fame in 2016 when he achieved the third spot in the IAAF under-20 world rankings following a bronze in the South Asian Games in India.

The same year, he got bronze in the Asian Junior Championship in Vietnam before taking bronze in the 2017 Baku Islamic Games.

The year 2018 was the best for Arshad as he claimed bronze in the Asian Games in Indonesia. And the 2019 Olympics qualifying feat has boosted his popularity, making him the best athlete the country has got over the years.

In all probability, Arshad will be in Nanjing, China, when this article appears. He along with four other athletes is waiting to return from China where they had gone for a two-month training until the end of February. There is a flight issue and they are expected to return home by February 4 when flights operation from Nanjing to Islamabad resume.

They have been called back by the AFP mid-way because of the coronavirus which has struck China.

The same flu-like virus also affected international events which China was going to host. And one of them is the Asian and Oceania boxing qualifiers which were slated to be held in Wuhan from February 3-14. The qualifiers, in which Pakistan will also field boxers, have now been shifted to Amman, Jordan, and will be held from March 3-14. The delay actually was a blessing in disguise for our national fighters who needed more time for preparations. A dozen of our boxers are undergoing preparations at the Army Sports Complex, Rawalpindi, under the watchful eyes of coach Arshad Hussain, a former Olympian.

Pakistan is expected to field five boxers in the continental qualifiers in Amman. Pakistani boxers will have their last chance to qualify for the Olympics when they compete in world qualifiers in May in Paris. The Olympic boxing affair is being dealt with by the special task force of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) which was formed following sanctions on the world boxing governing body (AIBA).

Meanwhile, Pakistan Taekwondo Federation (PTF) made history when it ensured the presence of an over 100-member contingent in the Fujairah Open which was scheduled to be held at Fujairah Martial Arts Club in Sheikh Zayed Sports City from January 31 to February 2.

I have been following most of the sports federations but the way Col Waseem, the PTF chief, is managing the presence of his top crop in international events, is amazing. The tour for Fujairah Open will cost around Rs12 million which he has been able to meet through the support of the corporate sector, self-financing, and the federation’s and the players’ parents’ input. It’s a record presence of Pakistani athletes in a single discipline in international circuit.

World Taekwondo has also allotted Pakistan a G-1 event which PTF is going to host in Islamabad in October. The PTF plans to field 700 Pakistani fighters in different age-group competitions in that event in which around 15 countries will be showcasing their talent.

The author can be reached at 73.alam@gmail.com