Pakistani wrestlers return home from Commonwealth Games

The only Gold medalist from Pakistan of this year’s Commonwealth Games, Inam Butt, along with other wrestlers have returned home as they touched down in Lahore on Wednesday.

Butt gave Pakistan their lone gold medal of the tournament in the wrestling event at the games while Tayyab Raza and Mohammad Bilal won bronze for Pakistan. Butt had completely outclassed his opponent Melvin Bibo of Nigeria in the final of 86kg weight category.

He has previously won the gold at Delhi Commonwealth Games in 2010. Talking to media upon his arrival, Butt said if more attention was paid to sports like weightlifting, it wouldn’t be too long before Pakistan would be winning a gold at the Olympics.

Butt appealed to the government and the private sector to work on the sport's encouragement and demanded that a proper academy be set up to encourage wrestling.

According to Butt, wrestling and weightlifting are two of the most popular sports in Pakistan at the moment and should be given importance as well.

Comparing himself to his Indian counterparts, Butt said that the Indian wrestlers trained for six months in the United States and that they have already started preparing for the next games.