KARACHI: When wrestling was reinstated into the Olympic sports roster during the 125th International Olympic Committee (IOC) session in Buenos Aires on Sunday, two men in Pakistan were left utterly disappointed.

One of them was squash legend Jahangir Khan.

The other was Asif Azeem, the director for the Olympic campaign for baseball-softball in the country.

The offices of the Pakistan Wrestling Federation (PWF) in Lahore, meanwhile, were in a totally different mood.

“It is a historic decision in the history of wrestling,” an ecstatic PWF secretary Chaudhry Mohammad Asghar told Dawn on Wednesday. “To stay in the Olympic programme was essential.”

Wrestling was dropped from the Olympic roster earlier this year, after the 2012 London Games, following baseball and softball who exited the roster after the Beijing Olympics in 2008.

Squash made up the trio who were fighting for a berth on the programme for the 2020 Games, which were awarded to Tokyo at the IOC session in the Argentine capital.

At the vote, wrestling regained its place, securing a majority 49 votes to baseball/softball’s 24 and squash’s 22.

It was ultimately the end of a saga that was supposed to elect a new sport to Olympic roster but in the end it was the status quo which was preserved.

For Jahangir, an honorary life president of the World Squash Federation (WSF), it was a body blow.

“Every time we lose, it adds to another four-year wait for the sport to be part of the Games,” Jahangir, who led squash’s first of three successive bids in 2005 to become an Olympic sport, told Dawn on Wednesday.

“Now we’ll have to wait till 2024 where we’ll try to become part of the Olympic fraternity.”

Asif, meanwhile, was campaigning vociferously for a combined baseball-softball bid to return to the Games.

He travelled from one corner of the country to another trying to drum support for the game and eventually show to the world that the sport was indeed enjoying great following in countries like Pakistan.

“It hurt a lot when the announcement came,” he told Dawn. “We were very hopeful that we could re-enter the Olympic programme but now we’ll work towards the next bid for a spot in the Games.”

The heartache was evident as Jahangir, arguably the greatest squash player of all time, spoke of the loss.

SQUASH DESERVES OLYMPIC STATUS: JAHANGIR

“Squash is one of the most popular sports in the world,” Jahangir said. “The following is immense and I have no doubt in my mind that the sport and its athletes deserve to be in the Olympic family.”

Jahangir masterminded squash’s bid for Olympic status in 2005 as president of the WSF. Then in Singapore, it topped the IOC vote for inclusion in the London Games but failed to get the required two-thirds majority.

“We’ve been working very hard to get into the Games,” Jahangir informed. “The sport is played in the Asian Games, the Pan-American Games and the Commonwealth Games but it surprises me that we can’t get the IOC vote for participation in the Olympics.”

India’s Narayana Ramachandran succeeded Jahangir as WSF president in October 2008 but the Pakistan ace was again behind the sports second bid in 2009 to seal a spot in the 2016 Rio Games.

They failed again, losing out to golf and rugby sevens, who will now be part of South America’s first Games.

“I fail to understand what criteria the IOC has set for inclusion of sports,” Jahangir, who remained unbeaten in competitive play in 555 matches in a span stretching nearly five years in the 1980s, added.

“We’ve been very close [to Olympic inclusion]. There are some sports — I don’t want to take credit away from them — but they are nowhere near the popularity enjoyed by squash and yet they get into the Olympics and we don’t. It’s shocking for us.”

Jahangir said that to become real contenders, squash had made several changes to the sport to increase its appeal.

Among them were multiple cameras, glass floors, LED lighting instead of lines, video referee reviews, white balls and a speeded-up scoring system that make matches last about 30 per cent less time.

“Despite all that, the IOC weren’t convinced,” he added. “But I believe Squash will get into the Olympics, it’s just a matter of when.”

A record ten-time winner of the British Open, Jahangir said had squash got into the Olympics it would’ve given up-and-coming youngsters an added incentive.

“There is so much talent in Pakistan,” he said. “Players who are coming up want to be Olympians as it is the pinnacle of players’ careers.”

YOUNGSTERS DENIED GAMES FUTURE: ASIF

Asif echoed Jahangir’s views in saying that it helps to attract youngsters to a sport if it is part of the Olympics.

“During the campaign, I travelled to schools and colleges all over Pakistan and it was good to see youngsters taking interest in baseball and softball,” Asif said.

“There was a lot of excitement amongst them about getting a chance to play in the Olympic Games and had we been selected, we [Pakistan Softball Federation] would’ve doubled our efforts in preparing a strong squad for the sporting extravaganza.”

At their presentation to the IOC on Sunday, World Baseball Softball Confederation (WBSC) co-president Don Porter gave an emotional speech, choking up while tears welled in his eyes.

“I hope today that you will find a place for those little girls in the Olympics and help restore their dreams,” Porter told the members.

And Asif agreed that for many young players, the dream was now over at least until 2024.

“When I meet young players in Pakistan, they have a dream to be part of the Games,” he informed. “For now, though, thaqt motivation will be gone until we become part of the Olympic fraternity.”

Pakistan are ranked 23rd amongst 140 countries in the International Baseball Federation’s (IBAF) men’s rankings and the women’s softball team is placed fifth in Asia.

Asif believes had baseball-softball been part of the Tokyo Games, Pakistan could’ve had teams in both the men’s and the women’s event.

“We would’ve surely qualified for the Olympics,” he said. “While I would give my best wishes to wrestling on their return [to the Games], I’d say that we would’ve had a better chance of winning medals in baseball-softball than in the sport of wrestling.

“It was a shock result for us because wrestling had already been taken off the roster following the London Games but eventually it returned to the fold.”

Incidentally, the last time a Pakistan wrestler made it to the Games was at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics where Mohammad Bashir competed in the 90kg category.

PWF EYES STRONG SHOW IN TOKYO

Buoyed by wrestling’s inclusion, though, the PWF are looking at improving their recent record.

“We’re extremely delighted at wrestling coming back at the Olympics,” Asghar said, adding that the PWF “will be looking at bucking the trend” which has seen them unable to field a wrestler at the last four editions of the Olympics.Asghar said that the difficult qualifying procedure meant that Pakistan wrestlers have been unable to get to the Games.

“To be at the Games, our wrestlers need to go through four rounds of qualifiers,” he informed. “Often there is a problem with funding and we’re unable to send our wrestlers to qualification events.

“This time around, however, we have six years to prepare for the qualifiers and we’ll try doing our best.”

The roadmap to Tokyo laid out by the PWF will see them hold national competitions to select the best grapplers from the country.

“We’ll be holding national events from next year,” Asghar said. “That will help us select the best and then to train them to compete at the Olympics, we’ll hold extensive training camps and maybe even send them abroad.”

Pakistan — and its wrestlers’ — appearance in Tokyo though hinges strongly on the Pakistan Olympic Association (POA) keeping its membership in the IOC.

A tussle between the POA and a rival body — set up by the government — has seen Pakistan come under intense scrutiny by the IOC who can suspend the country’s membership if government interference continues.

Asghar, though, isn’t worried.

“I think everyone knows who is right and who is wrong here,” he said. “And that will hopefully be sorted out and Pakistan will be a part of the Games in seven years time.”