Pakistan to feature in Fujairah Open Taekwondo Championship 2019
A 20-memebr Taekwondo squad will take part in Fujairah Taekwondo Championship 2019 which is to be held from 1st to 3rd February in United Arab Emirates.
A 20-memeber Taekwondo squad will leave for Fujairah on 30th January to participate in Fujairah Open Taekwondo Championship 2019 which has its registration deadline laid as 27th January and the championship will be conducted from 1st to 3rd February this year.
Pakistan Taekwondo Federation (PTWF) President, Lt Col (R) Wasim Ahmed Janjua said, “We have pinned great hopes in Haroon and Taimoor to win medals, while we will also send squad for US Open next month. All will be done on self-finance basis, as the federation can’t afford to send players due to lack of funds,”
He also declared to hold National Championship in Quetta and Islamabad this year along with Pakistan biding for G1 Asian Taekwondo Union Tournament in July this year.
Wasim confirmed,“We were given nod of approval by our Patron Gen (R) Javed Iqbal Ramdy to bid for the mega Olympics qualifiers. It would have cost us around Rs 70 million, but unfortunately, China had already won the rights of holding Olympic qualifiers in February next year. Now we have set our sights on Asian G1 Championship. The Asian Taekwondo Union has told us that we can bid in July this year. The Asian level event, the very first of its kind in Pakistan, will be played in 2020 in Islamabad, if our bid is accepted. We need around Rs 40 million and I am sure around 20 Asian countries will participate in the event,” he added.
Wasim said that the patron has given go ahead to the federation to hosting any international event. “I hope the government will seriously take into account our contributions in highly limited resources. We have ensured maximum international participation and also won international medals”.
He said the conduct of Asian or G1 Championship in 2020 will provide chances to local talent to compete against top players and learn and improve their games. “We can for sure fight for bronze medal in the men’s senior, silver or even gold in junior and gold in cadets category as we have very talented youngsters." he concluded.
