Qaiser clinches silver medal in Asian Cup Cadets

KARACHI: Pakistan’s promising judoka Qaiser Khan Afridi on Saturday added to his feathers when he lifted silver medal in the Asian Cup Cadets in Macau.

Qaiser, who has almost qualified for this year’s Youth Olympics, had to content with the silver medal when he went down to World No 8 Veg Zsombor of Hungary in the -90kg final. This was also the last competition of the Youth Olympics qualifiers.

The same Zsombor had also defeated Qaiser in the Asian Cup Cadets in Hong Kong a few days ago. Qaiser, World No20, earlier in preliminary round defeated Tajikistan’s Kurbano Emomrizo, a World No12, to qualify for the semifinals.

In the prefinal Qaiser whacked a Mongolian fighter to set up final clash with the Hungarian. Qaiser is the first fighter of Pakistan who has claimed silver at this level.

According to Pakistan Judo Federation (PJF) Qaiser will begin his international career at the junior level by featuring in the Asian Junior Judo Championships which will begin in Macau on Sunday (today).

The PJF said that Qaiser has almost qualified for the Youth Olympics 2018. International Judo Federation (IJF) will officially unveil the list of those fighters who have made it to the Youth Olympics, on August 1, the PJF informed.

“If Pakistan team gets the opportunity to feature in the Asian Games the federation is confident its fighters will bring laurels for the country,” the PJF said.

Appreciating the performance of Qaiser, the PJF secretary Mansoor Khan said that the young Judoka from district Khyber of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa was very talented and a future national asset.

“We hope to represent Pakistan in the forthcoming Asian Games. Pakistan judo team did not feature in Islamic Games, World Youth Games and Asian Martial Arts Games but now we hope to participate in the Asiad,” Mansoor said.

The PJF also requested Pakistan Sport Board (PSB) to hold judo camp in Islamabad so that tight preparation could be made for the Asian Games.

Pakistan Olympic Association’s (POA) Executive Committee would decide the matter of national judokas’ participation in the Asiad.