Confident Shah aims to train hard for Tokyo 2020

KARACHI: Olympian judoka Shah Hussain on Saturday said that he would need special training to claim a medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

“Before Olympics I would need to undergo a couple of months training in Russia. I would be happy if the authorities are able to provide me the chance as it would enable me to finish at the victory podium,” Shah told ‘The News’ in an interview from Islamabad.

Shah is in the federal capital where he took part for the first time in any national championship since opting to represent Pakistan in international circuit a few years back.

Shah last year created history when he became the first Pakistani judoka to qualify for the 2016 Rio Olympics on the basis of continental quota.

However he fell at the first hurdle when he lost to a Ukrainian judoka in his first bout of the minus 100 kilogramme.

The 2020 Olympic qualifiers for judo will begin next year. As per rules, judokas from across the world are to pass through qualifiers which exactly last for two years and then the ultimate list is prepared at the end of May in the Olympic year.

And Shah is confident of his success in the qualifiers.

“You know Olympic qualifying round is a tough phase as you need to appear in so many events on the trot for successive years. Last time too I did try to produce desired results but at certain stages I faltered. Now I have overcome some of my weaknesses and am confident to do well this time in the qualifiers,” Shah added.

Shah shot to fame when he lifted silver in the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games. Shah also has to his credit two bronze in the Asian Championships.

Meanwhile, it is not yet known whether Shah would feature in the Islamic Games because of a conflict between the Pakistan Olympic Association (POA) and Pakistan Judo Federation (PJF). Unaware of the issue, confident-looking Shah said that he would start training for the Islamic Games on his return to Tokyo after a couple of weeks.

“I will begin training for Islamic Games in Tokyo and I am very much optimistic that I will be able to grab a medal for Pakistan,” Shah hoped.

The Islamic Games will be held in the Azerbaijan’s capital Baku from May 12-22.

To a query Shah said that playing in Pakistan’s national championship was a fine experience.

“I really enjoyed playing here. The event was superbly managed and it made me very happy,” Shah conceded.

He said that there were plenty of talented players in Pakistan, stressing that they were facing problems in their techniques.

“No doubt the talent is exceptional here. The players are also young but what I felt was that there should be a strong base. There is a need to work on the basics and then it would not be difficult for them to add to their strength through hard work,” Shah pointed out.

He also praised Pakistan’s future prospect Qaiser Khan Afridi who lifted gold in the 81kg of the National Championship on Friday.

“Qaiser is an amazing boy. He was also working hard when he was in Tokyo with me,” Shah said. In the National Championship Shah got gold medals in the open weight category and plus 100kg.