Islamabad - Pakistan Judo federation (PJF) Thursday announced seven-member national team to take part in the Asian Games to be held in Indonesia from August 18 to September 2.
The team comprises four male judokas and three female players, said PJF secretary Mansoor Ahmad here. Shah Hussain Shan, Qaisar Khan, Babar Hussain and Nadeem Akram are in men team while Humaira Ashiq, Maryam and Amina Toyoda are the members of female team, he said. "Our squad comprises best available talent of the country and all the players are all working hard to achieve best result not only in Asian Games but also in future International events,” said PJF official.
Highlighting the individual past performance of team players, he said Olympian Shah Hussain is the bronze medalist of Asian Championships, 2013, silver medalist of Common Wealth Games, 5th position holder of Asian Games and gold medalist of South Asian Championships 2014, gold medalist of 12th South Asian Games 2016, India, and gold medalist of last 12th South Asian Senior Judo Championship 2018, Nepal.
"Shah nowadays getting training in Japan from Nagase Takanori, bronze medalist of Olympics, world champion 2014, Asian Champion and also achieved medals from 2013 to 2016 in different international championships. Shah is hopeful to do his best in Asian Games for raising the flag of Pakistan,” he added.
He said Qaisar Khan Afridi is a young emerging player, who has almost qualified for Youth Olympics 2018, (officially will be announced in coming few days). Recently, he has shown his worth by getting bronze medal in Asian Cup Cadet held in Kyrgyzstan, Asian Cup Cadet held in Hong Kong from July from July 12-15.
"The PJF arranged his training in Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan in last months, nowadays he is getting training in Macau with International best players and will participate in Asian Cup Cadet (last competition of Youth Olympics qualifying rounds) to be held in Macau from July 19-24,” he said and added: “We are expecting a high performance from world number 20 Qaisar who is the ever highest ranked Pakistani judo player.”
Regarding a member of the team, PJF secretary said Amina Toyoda, who is a semifinalist of Asian Cadet Championship is getting training in the best Judo University of Japan. "We are confident that she will prove her worth by showcasing her talent in best possible way.”
Moreover, Babar Hussain, Nadeem Akram, Humaira Ashiq and Maryam are getting training in their respective departments namely Pakistan Army and Wapda. "We are very promising martial art players and we hope that they will live up to the expectation,” said Mansoor.
He said PJF is in contact with PSB and POA for the teams’ participation in the Games. After withdrawing all court cases as per an IOC agreement, PJF now believes that POA and PSB will ensure their participation in the Asiad.
The PSB has been supporting the PJF, as a result the federation not only performed well in the past at South Asian, Asian and World level but also qualified into Rio Olympics 2016, said PJF official.
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