Humaira exits at the first hurdle in World Judo Championship

KARACHI: Pakistan’s Humaira Ashiq on Sunday exited at the first hurdle when she lost to Vargas Ley Mary of Chile in the -48 kilogramme first round fight of the World Judo Championships which began in Tokyo on Sunday.

Humaira, who was playing in her first World Championships, failed to match the calibre of her Chilean opponent who is World No 49. On Monday (today) young fighter Mohammad Hasnain will play in his first senior event in -66 kilogramme. He got bye in the first round of Group C. He will face the winner of the first round fight scheduled to be held between Mex Castillo of Mexico and Nabor Mne Nurkovic Jusuf of Montenegro on Monday (today).

Japan-based Amina Toyoda will face Starke Pauline of Germany in her first round fight on Tuesday (tomorrow). Pauline is world No 60 while Amina is ranked 257th. Amina lives permanently in Tokyo.

Olympian Shah Hussain is the other who will be competing in this very important event which also acts as qualifiers for the next year’s Tokyo Olympics. The 26-year-old Shah will fight against Saidov Saidzhalol of Tajikistan in the -100 kilogramme event on August 30.

Shah, ranked 99th in the world, is the sole 2020 Olympic hope of Pakistan. The event is very important for the Tokyo-based fighter and former Asian bronze medallist. Shah has not got enough exposure in 2019, having only featured in the Asian Championships where he finished fifth. This was the third successive time that Shah finished fifth in the continental event.

In the 2015 edition of the continental event, Shah claimed bronze medal. Pakistan Judo Federation (PJF) president Col (retd) Junaid Alam told ‘The News’ from Tokyo on Sunday that the basic purpose of fielding Humaira, Hasnain and Amina was to prepare them for the 13th South Asian Games.

“Shah is our only hope. You know World Championships is a major event and if Shah is able to win a couple of bouts, he will go up in rankings,” Junaid said. He also vowed that he would try his best to meet the IPC minister and others in a bid to get some support for Shah. “He is at the peak of his career and we need to back him at this important stage,” Junaid said.

Junaid and vice-president Masood Ahmed are in Japan. The other day they attended the world judo governing body (IJF) Congress in Japan’s capital. Shah will have to feature in many qualifiers until the end of May 2020.