Shah Hussain set sights on 2020 Tokyo Olympics
Pakistan’s Japan-based Olympian judoka Shah Hussain is trying his best to qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics Games which are scheduled to be held in the year 2020 at Tokyo, Japan.
Japan based Pakistani Judoka, Shah Hussain last year became the first Pakistani judoka to feature in the Olympics when he made his debut in the 2016 Rio Games. He qualified for the world’s most prestigious event on the basis of continental quota.
For achieving his goal Shah had to feature in a number of qualifying events for two years.
He competes in the - 100 KG weight category of Judo games and he is expected to feature in National Games in Quetta later this year.
“I know that it’s very tough now for me to qualify for the 2020 Olympics. But I still have a chance. I will sacrifice everything for making it to the world’s most prestigious event for the second time in a row,” Shah said in an interview from Tokyo.
Pakistan government amply backed Shah on that occasion. But now as there is no state support Shah has decided to do everything himself to qualify for the 2020 Olympics which will be staged at his hometown in Tokyo.
“There is no hope of support from any cordon. As I could not perform well in the Asian Games last year in Indonesia, I am unable to even ask for support. I think it’s better to do something on my own and I am doing that to achieve my goal. After the World Championships I started my training for the Olympic qualifiers. I have hired a trainer whom I pay 450 US dollars a month. My monthly training expenses are 1500 dollars,” Shah revealed.
“My father is doing a good job in Tokyo but he alone cannot bear my expenses. When I was preparing for the Rio Olympics I was also studying at the university where everything was okay. Now I am a professional fighter and I have to do everything myself. I also do a part-time job to meet my training expenses,” said the olympian judoka.
He said that he would have to work hard to qualify for the Olympics. “The issue is that my world ranking has gone down. It is now probably 125th. The issue is that for Rio Olympics it was necessary for an athlete to find a place in the top 22 but now for Tokyo you have to find a place in the top 16. If I am able to make a place in top 20 still I will be in a good position to make a cut for Olympics,” Shah explained.
He said he had a power issue which he had now overcome. “I have changed everything. I now live away from my home, have a trainer and go to far-flung areas to practice with top training partners,” Shah said.
He said that his first task was the Asian Championships. “Right now my focus is on the Asian Championships. I will try my best in the continental event,” he said. The Asian Championships will be held from April 19 to 22 at Sheikh Zayed Sports Complex, Fujairah, UAE.
Shah said that he played just a couple of international events last year. “I appeared last year in only Asian Games and World Championships. Fighters from Europe don’t win every fight. They win one, lose the next and then win again. I know everything now as I have been in the field for quite some time. I need to play at least 10 to 15 events in a year if I have to improve my world ranking,” said Shah.
