IMC to support national athletes towards their journey to Olympic, Paralympic

KARACHI: Indus Motors Company (IMC) will support Saadi Abbas Jalbani, local karate athlete, and Zainab Barkat, national wheelchair table tennis champion, to represent Pakistan in the Olympic Games and Paralympic Games Tokyo 2020.

“This is a part of the company's global ‘Start Your Impossible’ initiative that reflects the Olympic and Paralympics spirit of encouragement, challenge and progress,” said CEO IMC Ali Asghar Jamali during a press conference at a local hotel here on Thursday.

He added that this global initiative highlights the company’s mission of creating a barrier-free society and reinforces its values of humility, hard work, overcoming challenges, and never giving up.

“IMC has supported athletes to keep Pakistani flag high in international events. We believe that Saadi Abbas and Zainab Barkat will achieve marvelous success in their journey towards Olympic Games and Paralympics Games Tokyo 2020” said Ali.

Briefing the media, President Pakistan Olympics Association, former Lt. Gen. Syed Arif Hasan HI (M), said “There is a dire need of corporate sector coming up to support local athletes and IMC’s job in this regard is commendable. This does not only motivate local talent but help project the softer image of Pakistan globally. Pakistan Olympics Association is striving diligently to bridge resource gap for Olympics participation,” he added.

Talking to media on the occasion, Saadi Abbas Jalbani said “I will put in all my efforts to make my country proud. I am thankful to everyone who supported me and I appreciate Toyota’s role in this regard. It’s great that Toyota is also supporting other Pakistani talent in fulfilling their dreams and aspirations”.

Zainab Barkat said, “My dream will come true if I get to represent Pakistan in various Paralympic games through this support. My mission is to motivate other PWDs (persons with disabilities) so that they start believing in themselves and fulfill their dreams.”

“Other organisations should also come forward like Toyota to support national athletes as it will give hope to athletes of the country to achieve their best in respective domains,” she added.

It is to be noted that Saadi Abbas Jalbani hailing from a small town, Lyari, has risen sharply to become the first South Asian to win Asian Karatedo Championship. Some of his achievements include gold medal in 4th South Asian Karate Championship 2017 Colombo Sri Lanka; silver medal in 4th Islamic Games 2017 BAKU Azerbaijan; gold medal in 7th Commonwealth Karate Championship 2014, Montreal, Canada and many more.

Being a local hero athlete, Saadi aims to bulid community support through training Karate to underprivileged children. He aims to teach and motivate the younger generation through these trainings. IMC will also help Saadi in this great initiative by renovating the facility of “National Institute of Karate Do Pakistan” in Lyari. This initiative will provide a platform to the young athletes to practice Karate and represent Pakistan on various international platforms.

Similarly, Zainab Barkat is a prominent wheelchair Table Tennis player who has shown incredible performance in national events. She started her Ping-Pong career on February 2, 2005 and striving since with a dream to win Paralympics gold medal for Pakistan.