3 Pakistani Judokas to feature in Asian-Pacific Judo Championships 2019
Pakistan Judo Federation (PJF) has decided to field atleast 3 of its best Judo fighters that will participate in Asian-Pacific Judo Championships Seniors and Teams 2019 which will be staged from 20 to 23 April in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates (UAE).
In regard of this championship, Pakistan Judo Federation (PJF) has decided to field three of its leading fighters who will participate in this mega championship as this championship will help the judokas to enhance their ranking for their further participation in the upcoming Tokyo Olympics 2020.
A senior official of Pakistan Judo Federation (PJF) said that as Pakistan still had a chance to qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, sending judokas to the UAE for the continental event would help the fighters improve their Olympics rankings.
“The government is yet to release us the grant but as Asian Championships are very important, we have decided to send at least three fighters to Fujairah by seeking the support of some sponsors,” he added.
The official also said that a few fighters had already been shortlisted for the purpose. The final squad would be announced in the next four days.
Japan-based Olympian Shah Hussain's Olympic ranking has dropped to 151. He will need to improve it if he is to qualify for the Olympics which will be held in his hometown in Tokyo in 2020. If he won a medal in the Fujairah event, it would improve his rankings hugely. But he would have to keep improving his ranking till May 2020. It means he will have to feature in maximum qualifying rounds. Informed the olympian's father Hussain Shah, who is also a former Olympics bronze medalist.
“If my son did not feature in the UAE Asian Championships it would damage his qualifying chances for Olympics,” Hussain said.
The 2019 Asian-Pacific Judo Championships Seniors and Teams this time will be held in Fujairah, United Arab Emirates which will feature fighters from 25 different countries among which 114 will be men and the remaining 67 will be women.
