Japan-based Pakistani Judoka, Shah Hussain finishes 5th at Abu Dhabi Grand Slam 2019
Proficient Pakistani Judoka, Shah Hussain Shah narrowly missed Bronze medal at Abu Dhabi Grand Slam 2019 in UAE.
Pakistani Judoka, Shah Hussain Shah made history for Pakistan in Abu Dabi Grand Slam 2019 by capturing 5th spot in -100 KG weight category competitions as no one from Pakistan ever managed to get this far in a world class event.
There are a total of 553 athletes from 95 countries taking part in the games, comprising of 322 males and 231 females.
Pakistan Judo Federation (PJF) has fielded only two Judokas in this event, Shah Hussain for men's and Amna Toyodo for women's competition, both fighters are Japan-based. So far, Pakistan has taken 29th position out of 95 countries, while India, who had sent 14 players stands at 37th.
Shah got bye in the first round before winning against Savytskiy Anton of Ukraine in the second round. In the pre-quarterfinals, Shah once again dominated the competition against Uzbekistan's Khurramov Mukhammad Karim.
However, Shah missed the Bronze medal as he lost his bout to World #4 Shady Elnahas from Canada who defeated the Pakistani Judoka to grab the third place. There were two Bronze medal fights in the mentioned category so Shah ended his journey of this event on 5th spot.
Pakistan Judo Federation (PJF) President, Col Junaid Alam was cheerful of the Pakistani Judoka's performance to which he said,
“This is the highest ever achievement by any Pakistani Judoka at such a topflight world competition. The spectacular performance will better his Olympics as well as World rankings. The federation would further feature Shah in a series of more events to enable him a mass maximum points to earn a spot in the upcoming 2020 Tokyo Olympics."
