‘Identity’ crisis for Haroon Khan

Haroon Khan’s only claim to fame is that he’s the younger brother of WBA light welterweight champion and Athens Olympics silver medallist Amir Khan.

And yes, Haroon desperately wants an identity of his own. Back to that point later, but what’s worrying the teenager is that he was forced to take a tough, and perhaps controversial, decision. He had to snub England and represent Pakistan, his native country, at the Commonwealth Games.

Haroon says it was a tough decision to make but he had no other choice. “I was hoping to represent Britain at the Olympics, but that wasn’t happening. At this age, I need to grab my opportunities. Representing Pakistan was indeed encouraging. And I think I’ve earned my place here,” the 19-year-old explains.

Khan, who will be representing Pakistan for the first time, added he is hoping to secure victory at the Games as a way of repaying the faith that Pakistan have showed in him. “I’m eyeing the gold medal and I’m confident that I can win it for Pakistan. I feel the need to give something back to Pakistan which gave me the opportunity to compete at the Games” he says.

Back to the identity issue, Haroon says he wants to win as many medals as Amir.