‘Shah should have a coach at qualifiers’

Fielding Pakistan’s Japan-based judoka Shah Hussain in the Olympic qualifiers without a coach has raised many eyebrows.

“It’s strange that Shah is fielded in such vital events without a coach,” an expert told ‘The News’ on Wednesday.

“A coach boosts the mental level of players and I feel it’s very important to have a coach during an international assignment,” he said.

Shah’s father Hussain Shah also feels this. “I think it is not the right way — to send my son without any coach,” Shah told this correspondent from Tokyo.

Pakistan’s Iranian judo coach Sajjad Kazmi also says that a coach’s presence relieves pressure off the player. “A coach could motivate a player ahead of his fight and this can help a lot,” Sajjad told this correspondent.

“Shah could have delivered much better had he been fiedled in the previous Olympic qualifying events with a coach,” the Iranian said.

Shah has been participating in the Olympic qualifiers for the last couple of years. Pakistan Judo Federation (PJF) has not been sending any coach with him owing to financial constraints.

Shah was scheduled to fly out of Tokyo on Wednesday night for Turkey to feature in the Grand Prix (Olympic qualifiers) slated to be held in Samsun from April 1-3.

“Yes, he will leave this night,” his father Hussain Shah said. “He has prepared well and is determined to do his best,” Hussain Shah said.

After featuring in Samsun event in the -100 kg category, Shah will fly for Uzbekistan on April 4 to train in a well-facilitated academy in Tashkent for a few days.

He will take part in the Asian Championship pencilled in for April 15 to 17 in Uzbekistan’s capital.

He will be joined in Uzbekistan by judokas Qaiser Khan and Samiullah, who will leave for Tashkent from Peshawar on April 3 or 4.

The PJF had requested Uzbekistan’s judo authorities to provide their three players with training facilities for a few days so that they could train well ahead of the continental event.

The PJF will bear the accommodation and diet expenses of the players during their stay in Tashkent.

The Asian Championship is very important for Shah who is expected to make a cut for Olympics. He would be the first judoka from Pakistan if he qualified for the Olympics.

Kazmi said Shah could qualify. “I have worked with Shah. He has improved a lot. Technically and mentally he is very good now. He waits for his opponent to make mistakes but what he needs is quickness and physical agility,” Kazmi said.

“He is in a good position to qualify. If he fails this time even then we should not be disappointed. I guarantee you that he will certainly be there in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics,” Kazmi said.

Shah is now ranked 47th in the world. If he fails to qualify directly from the Asian Championship, he can appear in a few more events by May 29, after which International Judo Federation (IJF) will prepare a list of the leading players across the world and the relevant federations will be intimated by June 10 about their judokas who qualified.

Kazmi, whose contract expires this June, said Pakistan had some good judokas who could become Olympians. “You see with just 27 days training Pakistan did extremely well in South Asian Games. If the government and federation work together I am sure Pakistan one day will have several judokas in Olympics,” Kazmi said. Shah has grabbed two bronze medals in the previous two Asian Championships.

(Source: The News)