ISLAMABAD - Pakistani judokas excelled in the South Asian Senior Judo Championship 2018 in Nepal, as they won 2 gold, three silver and three bronze medals in the individual events.

In the men’s -66kg, Baber Hussain qualified for the finals, but he unfortunately lost against Nepalese opponent Shrestha Indra Bahadur in the final to settle for silver medal. In -73kg, Nadeem Akram won bronze medal against host nations Shahi. M Abbas won bronze medal in -81kg, as he beat Bhutanese Dorji. Beenish Khan won bronze medal in -78kg, as she beat Bangladesh’s Khatun.

Talking to The Nation, Pakistan Judo Federation (PJF) secretary Maqsood Ahmed said: “It is a very heartening display shown by our male and female players, which is a clear indication that the federation, despite lack of funds and international-level facilities, is still putting sincere efforts and winning medals for the country.”  He said now team events will start from today (Monday). “Pakistani contingent will land in Faisalabad on April 25. We are highly optimistic about winning gold and silver medals in the team events as well. We established long training camps for both male and female players at Islamabad and Peshawar and our coaches worked very hard with the athletes.”

 We are doing our best to impart modern-day training to our players. I feel it is IPC and PSB job to look into our efforts and announce special incentives for proud medalists., as it will not only encourage them, but also ensure more suitable results in the upcoming Asian Games and other international events.”