LAHORE, April 28: The inaugural national women judo championships will be organized at Railways Stadium on Saturday. Pakistan Judo Federation (PJF) secretary Mahmood Naveed said on Wednesday that three provinces Punjab, Sindh, NWFP along with Wapda and Police would compete in the one-day event.

“The federation decided to start the competition of women after receiving a good response from the provincial bodies and the departments,” he told a press conference.

Top 12 players will be picked from the championship to form Pakistan team which will take part in the Women Islamic Games to be held in Iran in September this year.

The participating teams had started training camps where the girls were honing their skills, the secretary said and added women referees and judges would also be prepared.

The official said the federation had also decided to have senior and junior national championships separately.

A junior team would also be sent to Nepal to take part in the Under-19 South Asian championship this year. Coaches from Iran were being hired to coach the players.

Mahmood, also the vice-president of Pakistan Karate Federation, lamented the performance of the karate teams in the Islamic Games held in Saudi Arabia.

He said Pakistan earned seven gold medals at the SAF Games held in Islamabad but returned empty-handed from Saudi Arabia.