Future of kabaddi has been quite bright in Pakistan:Ghulam Abbas Butt

Lahore: Ghulam Abbas Butt, the head coach of Sports Board Punjab’s Lahore Lions kabaddi team, has said that the future of kabaddi has been quite bright in Pakistan and there is no dearth of kabaddi potential in our country, he was talking to media persons at National Hockey Stadium here on Saturday.

Butt told that kabaddi was the mother sport of the sub-continent. “It’s in our blood and we will not let down our nation at least in the field of kabaddi,” he promised. “We are quite fortunate to have immense kabaddi potential in our country especially suburban areas. Our four young players – Rehman Ishtiaq, Saifullah, Rana Naeem and M Zubair – are showing decent performances in the ongoing WKL and that’s the reason we can say with proud that the future of kabaddi is bright in our country,” he explained.

Butt, who also has represented Pakistan in dozens of matches, informed that his team will not repeat the mistakes they committed in the previous matches. “Our boys did not waste time during their stay in Pakistan and have removed their shortcomings to the maximum,” he asserted. He said that his boys were quite upbeat to offer good performance against their strong opponents in the fourth round matches. It is pertinent to mention here that the Lahore Lions will play its fourth round matches of World Kabaddi League next week.

Elaborating the performance in World Kabaddi League, Butt said the performance of his team in the ongoing mega event was open to all. “We lost just one match out of five outings and that too due to the absence of our key players. Raiders Akmal Shahzad Dogar, Shafiq Chishti and stopper Mohsin Naseer Wahla were not fully fit due to diverse injuries and a couple of potential stars Waqas Raheem, M Matloob, Lala Obaidullah and Rana Naeem could not make it to the final playing XI,” he added.

To another question, Butt said that Sports Board Punjab (SBP) had a major role in present day high status of game of kabaddi in Pakistan. “Director General SBP Usman Anwar, Punjab Sports Minister Rana Mashhood Ahmed Khan have provided every kind of assistance to Pakistan kabaddi team and that’s the main reason of Lahore Lions’ success in a major event like World Kabaddi League,” he elaborated.