KARACHI: Pakistan’s prolific young weightlifter Nooh Dastagir Butt on Thursday said that he would lift gold in the Commonwealth Games penciled in for April 4-15 in Gold Coast, Australia.
“I am training hard and will InshaAllah win gold in Australia,” the 20-year old Nooh told ‘The News’ in an interview from Gujranwala.Nooh will represent Pakistan in the quadrennial event in the +105 kilogramme weight category.
Last year he had clinched gold in the junior category and silver in the senior category competitions of the Commonwealth Wrestling Championships held in Gold Coast.
He had broken the Commonwealth Championships junior record by lifting 389kg weight in total. Nooh is training at the gym of his father Ghulam Dastagir in Gujranwala. “I have opted to train here at our own gym. The basic thing here is that I can take a good food which is very important,” the athlete said.
Other weightlifters are undergoing training at the Pakistan Sports Complex Islamabad under coaches Ilyas Butt and Ali Aslam. Although Nooh is practicing in his own gym but his training is regularly monitored by a senior official of Pakistan Weightlifting Federation (PWF). “I regularly visit his gym and keep a close eye on his growth. I am satisfied with his training and progress,” PWF secretary Amjad Amin Butt told ‘The News’.
Butt said that Nooh had enormous potential and could spring surprise in the Commonwealth Games. “He is a gutsy boy and can show wonders in Australia,” Butt hoped. Nooh feels that weightlifters of a few countries could be dangerous. “The athletes of India, Samoa and New Zealand could be tough opponents,” Nooh was quick to add.
Nooh will make his Commonwealth Games debut which would be a tesing period for the young sensation. Pakistan plans to field seven weightlifters in the Commonwealth Games. Besides Nooh, Abu Sufyan (69kg), Commonwealth top seed in snatch Talha Talib (62kg), Usman Amjad Rathore (94kg) and Abdullah Ghafoor (56kg) are the others who have been finalized for the tour. Jameel Akhtar (105kg) and Haider Ali (77kg) have been kept in the reserve squad. “We are closely watching their growth and their fate will be decided a few days before the Commonwealth Games,” Butt said. The duo were facing some fitness issues which forced the PWF to keep them in reserve. “You know we want to send those who could put in his best in Australia. My son Abdur Rehman (85kg) had qualified for the Commonwealth Games but I did not pick him as I did not expect from him a medal in Australia,” Butt informed. To a query Butt said that he did not want to disturb Nooh at this stage by sening him to the camp in Islamabad. “I think it’s better for him to train at his own gym. I cannot disturb him as shifting him at this stage would be risky as it is not easy for an athlete to acclamatise so quickly with a different weather condition,” Butt conceded.
When asked about the quality of food being given to weightlifters during training Butt said the Board was doing its best. “The Board is doing its best and we also contribute in the area in order to ensure our athletes get required diet,” Butt said. Hockey, squash, athletics, swimming, wrestling, table tennis, badminton, boxing and shooting are the other disciplines in which Pakistan will be fielding its squads in the Commonwealth Games. In the last Commonwealth Games held in Glasgow in 2014, Pakistan’s performance in weightlifting was not good. Mohammad Shehzad (56kg) narrowly missed a silver medal, eventually finishing at the fourth place.
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