Taekwondo squad returns after participating in 2021 Olympic qualifiers
Pakistan Taekwondo squad after participating in the World Taekwondo Asia Qualifying Event for Tokyo Olympics, returned to home successfully.
Pakistan Taekwondo squad after performing outstandingly in Jordan Tokyo Olympic qualification championship returned to Karachi.
Quetta-born seasoned taekwondo fighter, Haroon Khan narrowly missed the Olympics seat after losing in the -58kg semi-final against Asia’s No.1 Ramnarong SawekWiharee of Thailand was quite tough.
“Of course feeling unfortunate for not qualifying for the Olympics, but COVID-19 had a significant effect on our training for such a mega event,” regretted Haroon.
England-based Aneela who trained with the British team in Manchester, got bye in the first round and overpowered Tajikistan’s fighter in the second round before falling to a Vietnamese Olympian fighter.
Another promising taekwondo star, Taimoor Saeed lost to Iran’s Amiri Ali Akbar 3-10 in the 87 kg quarterfinals. Cambodia’s Tubbs Casandre Nicole defeated Zoya Sabir of Pakistan 39-1 in the -57 kg category.
“We were expected to train for three months, which was called off due to the COVID-19 outbreak and damaged our physical fitness,” said Taimoor .
