Hussain flies to Brazil for Judo Grand Slam

KARACHI: Pakistan’s highly experienced judoka Shah Hussain on Friday flew out of his hometown Tokyo for Brazil to feature in the Grand Slam which will begin on Saturday (today).

Shah, the Olympian, is aiming to qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, a stiff target which the Tokyo-based fighter wants to achieve at every cost. He currently stands at the 74th spot in world rankings and 62nd in the Olympics rankings. He needs to feature in a handful of more events which may enable him to press for the Tokyo 2020 seat.

His father Hussain Shah was optimistic about his son’s performance in Brazil. “I hope he will do his best,” Hussain told The News from Tokyo on Friday. The 26-year old Shah recently did well in the World Judo Championships held in Tokyo which helped him improve his rankings in minus 100 kilogramme competitions.

In the global event Shah had downed Tajikistan’s Saidov Saidzhalol in the first round. However in the pre-quarter-final Shah was undone by Dichev Daniel of Bulgaria who was ranked 45th then.