Saadi Abbas Jalbani, Pakistan’s best Karateka, encourages all stakeholders in the country to sit down and work together for the good of sports.In an interview Saadi emphasised the importance of finding talent and developing it over time.
“It’s critical for authorities to recognise talent that might win us medals in global competitions, and one way to achieve so is to send them to many tournaments where they can prove their mettle,” Saadi told Geo News.
“Send them to the South Asian Games, and if they do well, send them to the Asian Games,” the 30-year-old karateka added. “Invest in them and give them experience to international tournaments before expecting them to win gold for the country.”
aadi emphasised how javelin thrower Arshad Nadeem was continually given worldwide exposure, which led to his earning the gold medal for the country.The Lyari karateka is now training for the Islamic Solidarity Games in Konya, Turkey, where he will compete on August 17 and 18.
Saadi is now in Dubai and will go for Turkey on August 14.”I’m well-prepared and looking forward to delivering my best in the Islamic Solidarity Games,” he said, adding that Islamic countries such as Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Egypt, and Turkey dominate the sport, but he hopes to outperform them.
“It will be a tough competition, but I feel confident.” “I earned a silver medal in Baku last time and am now aiming for a gold,” the karateka said.Saadi also discussed his training experience during the Pakistan Sports Board’s four-month-long camp for athletes, saying that it helped them prepare well.
“While we would have preferred some training tours, we are grateful to PSB for providing us with a camp site that aided us throughout training,” he added.