PJF vows to provide int’l exposure to judoka Shah Hussain

LAHORE: Pakistan Judo Federation (PJF) intends to provide ample international exposure to judoka Shah Hussain Shah in next three months to get him in shape for his ranking points for Tokyo 2020 qualifying race.

PJF vice president Masood Ahmed informed that their President Col Junaid Alam had written a letter to Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) a few days back, seeking its help to send Shah for the international events.

“We received a positive answer from the PSB as it asked us to provide the details of different events. We’ve communicated these (details) to it. We are sure we’ll get the required support to materialize our plans for Shah,” he added. The judo Olympic qualifying period, which commenced on May 25, last year would end on May 25, next year. Various international judo events contribute towards accumulation of ranking points and top athletes will be selected in May 2020. Shah is expected to be sent to Brasilia Grand Slam, taking place in Brazil from October 4 to 9, Grand Slam UAE, to be held from October 23 to 28, Oceania Open, taking place in in Australia from November 2 to 6, Japan Grand Slam from November 21 to 25, Asian Open, scheduled to be held in Hong Kong from November 29 to December 2 and Qingdao Open from December 11 to 15 in China.

Shah, who competes in -100kg category has been performing well in various international events as he earned twice Asian bronze and thrice fifth place in annual Asian Senior Championship/Asian Games, silver in Commonwealth Games. He is also South Asian champion since 2014. He narrowly missed the bronze-medal fight at the Asia-Pacific Senior Championship in May, this year. He lost his pre quarterfinal fixture in a well-fought contest in the World Judo Championships in Japan in August. However, his ranking has improved 26 places up to 73rd. In the Olympic rankings he rose up from 94th to 57th position.