HAIDHER Riaz has moved a step closer to his Olympic dream but will have to travel 3,500 miles to stand a chance of making that trip down the M6 to London.

The Blackburn boxer has been selected to take part in the Pakistan Olympic qualifiers and flies out to link up with national team next week.

He is expected to train with the squad for a month before taking part in trials in Kazakhstan for London 2012.

The 19-year-old, a North West Novice champion, recently returned from Pakistan where he took part in the National Boxing Championships in Peshawar.

And despite not winning gold – in a competition that also included Amir Khan’s younger brother Haroon – Riaz impressed selectors so much that he has been invited to the Olympic trials.

His dad Mohammed said: “Haidher did really well and this is a fantastic chance for him to realise his dream.

“He suffered with injury and illness while in Pakistan but he has great talent and that was spotted by the coaches who have invited him back out.”

Riaz travelled out to Pakistan with his father and Yaqoob Hussain, head coach of Blackburn and Darwen Police ABC who had been invited by the Pakistan Boxing Association to help train, referee and officiate boxers.

Despite having little time to acclimatise, Haidher, who was fighting in the 69kg class, won through the rounds before beating facing Gul Sher, from the Higher Education Council Boxing Academy in Islamabad in the final.

Victory meant he progressed to the main event where he trained alongside Haroon Khan, both of whom were coached by Hussain.

The pair took part in the Shaheed Benazir International Boxing tournament and Riaz, who had been suffering with a stomach bug, won through to the quarter finals where he was up against a a very strong boxer from Uzbekistan.

But despite another good performance, the judges gave the decision to the Uzbekistani boxer on a majority.

However, despite illness and the defeat, the selectors saw enough in Riaz to invite him to the Olympic trials.

“This has been a dream come true for Haidher,” said Hussain. “It was tough because we didn’t get the chance to accolimitise properly and Riaz suffered with a bug while we were out there.

“But saying that, myself and his dad thought he had done enough to win that final bout.

“Overall the climate had taken a lot out of Haider and he became weak, he had started at 69kgs but ended up coming down to 66 Kgs.

“The Pakistan selectors were so impressed with his performance that they have invited him to go to Pakistan and join the training camp which will be going to the Kazakhstan Olympic qualifiers.”