Shah bags bronze in Asian Judo Championship

KARACHI: Pakistan’s star player Shah Hussain claimed a bronze medal in the Asian Judo Championship late Thursday night in Kuwait.
Shah, the son of former Pakistan’s Olympic bronze medallist boxer Hussain Shah, did a fine job in the -100 kilogramme by beating Toktogonov Bolot of Kyrgyzstan in the bronze medal bout which lasted four minutes and 37 seconds.
Earlier, Shah in the repechage knocked out India’s Shahi Jaswinder in two minutes and 17 seconds to set medal clash with Bolot.
Shah had a nice start to his journey when he defeated Niemkunchon Sittipond of Thailand in four minutes and 15 seconds. However, he lost his second bout to World No17 Sayidov Ramziddin of Uzbekistan that sent him to the repechage.
Meanwhile in the -60kg, Syed Samiullah lost to Olympic bronze medalist Kim Won Jin of Korea. Sami extended tough fight against the world’s top player by resisting against him for around four minutes and 28 seconds. Kim then went on to clinch the gold medal.
In the -66kg, Babar Hussain went down against Chen Wei Chieh of Chinese Taipei, who later ended fifth in the competition.
Imtiaz Hussain, in the -73kg, was defeated by Necolaos Kevin of Lebanon. Imtiaz then conceded his second fight to Zanbaatar Odbayar of Mongolia.
In the -81kg, Karamat Butt was defeated by the experienced judoka Zolonove Vladir of Kyrgystan, who later grabbed fifth place.
In the women’s event, Humaira Ashiq of Pakistan lost to Podyadova Alexendra of Kazakhstan in -48kg, Podyadova later clinched fifth spot, while in the -57kg Shumaila Gul of Pakistan lost to Madraimova Zuhra of Turkmenistan.
Overall Pakistan ended 12th in the 31-nation spectacle. India finished at the 16th spot.
Pakistan Judo Federation’s (PJF) president Col (retd) Shaujaat Ali Rana appreciated Pakistan’s performance.
“Pakistani players performed really well in the event. I am thankful to Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) for its support in training and hiring of a foreign coach,” Shujaat said.
Shujaat, early this week, was elected as president of the South Zone of Judo Union of Asia (JUA). He will also serve as vice-president of the JUA for the next four years.
PJF secretary Masood Ahmed in a statement also hailed his players performance.
“The way our players fought against world’s prominent players shows that we have a lot of talent,” Masood said.
He also lauded Shah Hussain for his medal-winning feat.
“The way Shah played is an indication that he is undisputedly a fine player. I am sure he will make it to the 2016 Rio Olympics,” Masood conceded.