Daily Times

BEIJING: Pakistan’s squad appreciated the love received from Chinese people everywhere and said that the warm welcome to the Pakistani contingent by the Chinese audience at the opening ceremony of the Winter Olympics showcased that the ironclad friendship is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people of the two countries.

“As we all know, Pakistan and China are good friends. We received a very warm welcoming response from Chinese people when they see us, they requested an exchange of Flags and Pins,” said Pakistani Head Coach Muhammad Qamar Mirza.

Moreover, a warm welcome to the Pakistani contingent by the Chinese audience during the opening ceremony once again showed that strong friendship is deeply rooted in the hearts of the people of the two countries”, he told China Economic Net.

Qamar Mirza replied to the questions about how the squad is feeling about participating in the Beijing Olympics and what kind of facilities they are enjoying.

“We are really excited to represent Pakistan in the Winter Olympics, Beijing 2022. The infrastructure development and organizational preparation for the Beijing Olympics 2022 venues are highly commendable. We are enjoying all the facilities here”, he added.

Keeping in view of different kinds of culture and food habits, a special food arrangement has been prepared for the Beijing Winter Olympics. The Pakistani coach said the contingent is happy to enjoy Chinese food.

“The food is really good here, especially fish and noodles in a Chinese recipe are marvelous. Moreover, Chinese rice prepared with vegetables, eggs, and meat is different from the heavy traditional food of Pakistani cuisine”, he added.

Pakistani squad coach said that gaining experience here would be utilized in Pakistan and can help improve the player’s skills.

“By interacting with top-level skiers and professionals here, we have learned a lot and we will share our experience with our athletes in Pakistan,” he mentioned.

He further said that after having exposure to world-class athletes, they understand that Pakistan needs to improve infrastructure to compete with world-class athletes.

“We have a lot of talent in our country, especially in the Northern areas. We only need a good infrastructure for winter sports in our country. We can train our athletes if we have better facilities”, he stated.

Pakistani athlete Muhammad Karim, from Naltar, a village in Gilgit-Baltistan, is the only Pakistani skier participating in the Beijing Winter Olympics. He has already participated in two Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia, and Pyeongchang, South Korea.

Karim will take to the slopes on 16th February in the Yanging District at the China National Alpine Skiing Center.