Judoka Qaiser to feature in Asian Cup

KARACHI: Pakistan’s emerging judoka and the South Asian Championship gold medallist Qaiser Afridi will fly out of Peshawar for Kyrgyzstan on June 19 to feature in the Issikul Cadets Asian Cup 2018 slated to be held there from June 21-22.

The event will help Qaiser to prove his mettle to stay in contention for a seat in the Youth Olympics to be held in Argentina later this year.“We are going to send him to Kyrgyzstan for the Asian Cup so that he could maintain his ranking which will help him to win a seat for Youth Olympics,” PJF senior official Masood Ahmed told The News on Thursday.

He will also attend a five-day international training camp there from June 25 to 29, the official said.“International Judo Federation (IJF) had said that top 40 in the world until July 22 will qualify for the Youth Olympics.

Qaiser, who plays in -90kg, now stands at the 29th place and we are going to send him to Kyrgyzstan for keeping his position intact,” the former PJF secretary said.He revealed that both Qaiser and Japan-based Shah Hussain would then be sent to Hungary for a 25-day training ahead of the Asian Games slated to be held in the Indonesian cities of Jakarta and Palembang from August 18 to September 2.

However it is not yet known whether national judokas will feature in the Asiad. Pakistan Olympic Association (POA) Executive Committee would decide the fate of judokas who also suffered in the past because of the cold war between the POA and the PJF on certain legal issues.Qasier belongs to Qambarkhel, Kgyber Agency. Qaiser has also to his credit bronze in the 2016 South Asian Games in India.