Saadi Abbas registers two wins in Karate I Premier League 2019
Ghulam Saadi Abbas won his two fights while lost one in the 2019 Karate I Premier League which concluded succssfully in Dubai.
After having finished seventh out of 100 fighters in the Paris Open last month, Pakistan’s ace karateka Saadi Abbas en-routed towards his Olympics berth and featured in Karate I Premier League 2019 in which a total of 67 athletes from around the world took part.
Dubai based Karateka participated in the -75 KG Male Kumite Journey where he defeated Tamanigaunatawamudu Tevita of Fiji by 3-1 in the first round. Saadi then marked another win by beating El Sharaby Ahmed of Italy 2-1 in the next round. However, in the third round he lost to USA's Scott Thomas by 1-3. Later, Scott lost in the semi-finals that also ended Saadi’s hopes of playing in the repechage bronze medal fights.
Now the winners of Male Kumite -75 KG are: [1st] Asgari Ghoncheh Bahman (IRI), [2nd] Busa Luigi (ITA) and [3rd] Scott Thomas (USA)/Aghayev Rafael (AZE). But as every win fetches points for the fighters which help them in the lead up to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics seats, these two wins will help Saadi improve points and will nurture his Olympic journey.
As karate has been included in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, Saadi wants to make a cut for the world’s prestigious spectacle. “He is our sole hope for Olympics. These days our eyes are on Saadi,” said Pakistan Karate Federation (PKF) Chairman, Muhammad Jehangir.
Saadi is one of the leading athletes of Pakistan as the The former Asian champion has won medals in his illustrious career in almost every major international event. “I am not satisfied with my fight against Scott who is among top five in the world. I played for the first time against him. I made some mistakes but the two wins will help me improve my points and will help in my Olympic journey,” he said.
