Zaman Anwar eyes Rustam-e-Pakistan title
The previous event crown had won by the country’s renowned wrestler and world beach wrestling king M Inam Butt
LAHORE: Pakistan’s top super heavyweight wrestler Zaman Anwar has set his eyes on lifting his maiden Rustam-e-Pakistan title.
“Yes, it’s my dream to lift the title,” Zaman told ‘The News’ in an exclusive chat on Thursday. The title fight will be held here at the Punjab Stadium on Sunday. Gujranwala-based Zaman, who belongs to WAPDA, will face Mohammad Asif of Army in the final.
The previous event crown had won by the country’s renowned wrestler and world beach wrestling king M Inam Butt. Zaman has been doing a tough workout for the showpiece which is expected to attract a huge crowd.
“I have been doing hectic work. I trained hard in Ramadan in the night and after Eid-ul-Fitr I have trained for around ten to 12 days. When I started wrestling it has been my dream to win this coveted crown,” Zaman said.
Zaman last year won silver medal in the 125-kg weight category in the Birmingham Commonwealth Games when he lost to Canada’s Amarveer Dhesi 2-9 in the final at Coventry in front of a big crowd.
“Asif is also a fine wrestler and I think it will be a tough fight. InshaAllah I hope that it will be my day,” Zaman said.
“After this fight my focus will be shifted to mat-wrestling as well as Asian Games are also around the corner,” he added.
Asif is young and is a pure mud wrestler while Zaman is also a highly talented freestyle wrestler besides having the expertise in mud wrestling which is Pakistan’s basic strength. Zaman blasted his way into the final after beating Shehzad Puchar in the semi-final in Muzaffargarh while Asif downed Tayyab Raza, also the 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games bronze medallist, in the semi-final.
The final fight will be of 30-minute duration. Before the final the third-place fight will be conducted between Shehzad and Tayyab Raza.
Pakistan Wrestling Federation (PWF) vice-president Arshad Sattar told ‘The News’ that 30 fights have been kept on the day.
“We have kept 30 fights on the day in which the country’s top wrestlers will be showcasing their talent,” Arshad said.
The winner of the Rustam-e-Pakistan title will be handed over Rs1 million, with the runner-up to get richer by Rs500,000. The event is being organised by the Pakistan Wrestling Federation (PWF) with the collaboration of Sports Board Punjab (SBP) and Punjab government.
Its first stage was conducted in Kasur, followed by the quarter-finals held at Lahore and semi-finals at Muzaffargarh.
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