Pakistan’s seasoned boxing coach and former international Arshad Hussain has hailed Fatima Zehra for winning a rare bronze medal at the recently concluded Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, saying her achievement underlined the potential of the country’s female boxers.

“It is not easy to win a medal at the Commonwealth Games, especially for females. I have also featured in the Commonwealth Games and know how strongly you have to fight,” Arshad told The Express Tribune.

“There are so many nations competing in these Games. We have not played against many of them and have never seen them before, so we have to work extremely hard to beat them. I appreciate Fatima for winning two fights to claim the bronze,” he said.

Arshad, however, expressed disappointment over boxer Qudratullah’s decision to abandon the country after featuring at the Games.

“He was a good fighter. I don’t know who convinced or tempted him to do this and go missing,” he said.

The veteran coach also urged the Pakistan Boxing Federation (PBF) to give greater attention to female boxers, insisting that the country has promising talent that can flourish with proper training and exposure.

“They have the potential. We have three good fighters, including Fatima Zehra, Malaika and Maria. They should be taught skills and sent abroad for a couple of months of training. If this is done, I hope they will progress,” Arshad said.

He also gave credit to Pakistan’s male boxers for putting up competitive performances, but said they lacked technical and physical sharpness.

“Our boys were not bad at the Commonwealth Games. They had good fights, but yes, they were a bit weak technically and physically,” he said.

Arshad stressed that meaningful progress in boxing would remain difficult without sustained government backing.

“You know we have a glorious past in boxing. It is one of the toughest sports. If we are to do something on the international circuit, the state will have to back this sport,” he said.

“Look at the Commonwealth Games. The state gave boxing only a 20-day camp. People cannot even win medals with 20 months of camp, so how can we expect medals through a 20-day camp? We take sports too casually.”

The IBA three-star coach was also pessimistic about Pakistan’s medal prospects at the next month’s Asian Games, saying the competition would be considerably tougher.

“I don’t think we can do much at the Asian Games. They are tougher than the Commonwealth Games, with boxing giants such as Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Thailand, Japan, China and the Philippines taking part. It will be tough for our boxers to do anything noteworthy,” Arshad said