Pioneering woman boxer Malaika Zahid takes the stage at Commonwealth Games
She is the first female boxer from Balochistan to represent the country at the Games
Pakistani boxers are keen to register more wins as Malaika Zahid will be taking the stage at the 2026 Commonwealth Games, where she will compete in the 54 kg event, while Sumama Rehman will also be in action against an Indian opponent on July 26.
Malaika is a Quetta-based national champion in her category. She has been a key influence in setting up the current crop of boxers who are showing promising results at the international events.
She is the first female boxer from Balochistan, a province that has produced several men’s boxing champions.
“Maliaka is a brilliant boxer; she is the first girl from the Army sports department to become a boxer, and we are very proud of her; in fact, we started making the Army boxing team and the national women’s boxing team with her,” the Army sports department official and the Pakistan Boxing Federation Secretary Major Irfan Younis told Lost on the Desk from Glasgow.
“We didn’t have women’s boxing teams till a few years ago, and it all started with her properly. We are hoping for very good results from her.”
Maliaka will fight Zambia’s Catherine Mwape in the round of 16.
Meanwhile, Sumama Rehman is making his international debut. He represents Wapda in domestic competitions.
The Lahore-based pugilist will face India’s Jadumani Singh Mandengbam in the 55kg round of 16 bout.
“Sumama is a good boxer, but his competition is tough as he will be facing an Indian boxer who is far better in ranking, but we can hope for a good bout,” said Younis.
Earlier, Afzal Khan lost to Canada’s Gabriel Labrie 5-0 in the 65 kg round of 16 bout. He was the first Pakistani to post a win at Glasgow on July 24.
“We have identified the talent, and we are working with the athletes diligently as a federation, but we need infrastructure and assistance with finances from the government.
“For example, Rs 1 million is required to send one athlete to one international event; then we need to arrange for at least one coach who can accompany that athlete.
“We need three coaches with every boxing squad to oversee them, but we make do with one as we are woefully underfunded.
“If the government helps us, we would like to arrange training tours for our athletes that last for a few months in countries like Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan. We would like to target Central Asian countries because they are not as expensive.
“The concept of athlete development is to facilitate the players for four to eight years, and only then can we expect to qualify for the Olympics,” explained Younis.
Elsewhere, swimmers including Olympian Jehanara Nabi and Hamza Asif competed in 100m women’s freestyle and men’s 50m breaststroke, respectively. They did not go beyond their heats.
Muhammad Ayub Qureshi finally registered a win at lawn bowls; he defeated a Fijian player in the men’s singles sectionals.