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PJF hopes Pak judokas will compete at Asian Games

By Our Correspondent
July 20, 2018

KARACHI: Not knowing exactly what decision Pakistan Olympic Association (POA) would take regarding national judokas’ participation in the 18th Asian Games, Pakistan Judo Federation (PJF) on Thursday expressed the hope that its fighters would feature in the quadrennial event, slated to be held in the Indonesian cities of Jakarta and Palembang from August 18 to September 2.

“PJF is hopeful about participation in Asian Games,” PJF said in a press release on Thursday.According to the POA, its Executive Committee will meet after general elections to decide whether the national judo fighters will be sent to Indonesia.

The PJF said it had been in contact with the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) and the POA regarding Pakistan’s participation in judo event in the Asian Games in which Pakistan is set to feature in 36 disciplines if judo is excluded from the list.

But it has been learnt that the NOC has already sent the names of some top judokas to the Asian Games organisers for their accreditation cards.“After withdrawing all court cases as per Lausanne Agreement the PJF now believes that POA, PSB or any patriotic Pakistani in authority will not like to deprive the athletes of their basic right of participation in international event. The judokas have great chances of finishing gracefully in the Asian Games where Pakistan had a dismal record last time,” the PJF added.

The federation said that the PSB had been supporting PJF. It was the main reason that national judokas performed well at the South Asian, Asian and world level and Shah Hussain qualified for Rio Olympics, becoming the first player of Pakistan to do so.

The PJF also said that Shah, Qaisar Khan, Babar Hussain, Nadeem Akram, Humaira Ashiq, Maryam and Japan-based Amina Toyoda have been selected for the Asiad.“They are all working hard to achieve the best result not only in Asian Games but also in other international events in future,” the PJF said.

Shah has to his credit bronze in the 2013 Asian Championships and silver in the Commonwealth Games. He finished fifth in the 2014 Incheon Asian Games, clinched gold in the 2014 South Asian Championships, claimed gold in the 12th South Asian Games 2016 and captured gold in the 12th South Asian Senior Judo Championship 2018 held in Nepal.

Shah these days is training with Olympic bronze medallist Nagase Takanori of Japan. Shah hopes to do his best in Asian Games, the PJF said.Qaisar has almost qualified for the Youth Olympics 2018. He recently won bronze in the Asian Cup Cadets in Kyrgyzstan.

“The federation arranged his training in Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan. These days he is undergoing training in Macau with the world’s best fighters. He will feature in the Asian Cup Cadets (last competition of Youth Olympics qualifying rounds) to be held in Macau from July 18-24. PJF expects Qaiser to perform well,” it said.

Amina is a semi-finalist of the Asian Cadet Championship. She is undergoing training at the best judo university of Japan. PJF hopes she will prove her worth in the Asian Games.Babar Hussain, Nadeem Akram, Humaira Ashiq and Maryam are training in their respective departments, the federation said.