KARACHI: Pakistan’s top wrestler Mohammad Inam is happy with his training in Mongolia ahead of the Asian Championships to be held in Ulaanbaatar from April 19-24.

“Thank God the training is going very well in two sessions here,” Inam told ‘The News’ from Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. “In addition to the mat sessions, work is also done on physical condition. I played three games here and won them all. We train with local and international wrestlers here. It’s a good thing for us that we came here long before the Asian Championship and we are training in a great environment,” said Inam.

“And I will thank the Pakistan Wrestling Federation (PWF) for sending us early,” Inam added.

Ulaanbaatar is a hill station where the weather is extremely cold.

“We were training at 35-36 degrees Celsius in Lahore and here we are training in temperature which also goes down to minus 10 because this place looks like a hill station,” Inam said.

“We are trying to acclimatize to the conditions and I hope good results will come. You know the Asian level is equal to the Olympic level because the best players in the world belong to this belt and we are confident of winning medals for Pakistan in the Asian Championship,” he said.

The tour will also help Inam prepare for the Commonwealth Games scheduled for July 28-August 8 in Birmingham.

Inam will defend his title in Birmingham; at the 2018 Commonwealth Games held in Gold Coast, Australia, he won a gold medal.

Besides Inam, Youth Olympic bronze medalist Inayatullah trains in Mongolia.

Pakistan has chosen three wrestlers for the Asian championship. Inam and Inayat are in Mongolia for a 15-day training ahead of the continental event while third wrestler Mohammad Bilal will fly from Lahore to Mongolia on April 19 to also compete in the Asian Championship.

Bilal, however, was unable to earn a spot on the national wrestling team for the Commonwealth Games.

Meanwhile, coach Ghulam Fareed told ‘The News’ of Mongolia that it’s a good thing that top wrestlers train at international level.

“Yes, the training session is underway. A dozen countries have reached it. It’s a good opportunity for us to train internationally,” Fareed told the correspondent.

“You know, Ulaanbaatar is a hilly area and here the oxygen is a bit low and we also have time to work on cardio. The weather environment has also adapted and good results are coming. matches, which we have played so far, went well and Inam and Inayatullah won their matches,” said Fareed, adding that they trained in two sessions and also held three competitions in one week in order to get acquainted with the local clubs and their international players.

“InshaAllah, we will come back from the Asian Championship with a medal,” hoped Fareed.

The Asian Championship will be the last international event for national wrestlers before the Commonwealth Games. After this event, PWF also plans to run another overseas tour for its grapplers to further prepare for the Birmingham competition, which is the main focus of the federation.