Proficient Pakistani Judoka, Shah Hussain faces first defeat in Brasilia Grand Slam 2019
Japan based Pakistani Judoka, Shah Hussain Shah lost his first round fight against Bulgaria's Dichev Daniel in the 2019 Brasilia Grand Slam 2019, Brazil.
Pakistan Judo Federation (PJF) has planned a series of events for the Tokyo-based Olympian, Shah Hussain, among which Brasilia Grand Slam 2019 was his first event that begun yesterday where he was to compete against much experienced counterpart, Daniel Dichev of Bulgaria in the opening round.
Fighting into the -100 KG category, both fighters threw their all to emerge the winner but after two minutes and 26 seconds struggle, Pakistan's Shah lost the fight as he made three fouls which caused him to lose the fight.
Daniel, who is 28, stands at 40th in World Ranking and 38th in Olympic Ranking while Shah is far behind him in both, World Ranking which is 74 and Olympic Ranking: 62 for which Shah will have to produce solid performance in the upcoming events to improve his Olympic Ranking so as to be able to qualify for the upcoming 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
Even with the loss in this event, Pakistan Judo Federation (PJF) Vice President, Masood Ahmed is hopeful for Shah's chances to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics next year,
"I hope Shah would at least grab ten points which would help him improve his ranking. I am confident he will qualify. If Shah comes in top 30 or 35 then he can again earn a seat on continental quota as he did last time” said Masood.
There would be five more events in which Shah would be featuring for improving his ranking and they are stated below:
1. Grand Slam (UAE, Oct 23 to 28)
2. Oceania Open (Australia, November 02 to 06)
3. Grand Slam (Japan, November 21 to 25)
4. Asian Open (Hong Kong, November 29 to December 02) and
5. Qingdao Open (December 11 to 15).
