ISLAMABAD: Army won the 25th edition of men’s National Judo Championship while Wapda’s judokas lifted the National Women Championship’s 8th edition trophy at the Liaquat Gymnasium, Pakistan Sports Complex, here on Saturday.

On the final day of the six-day event, men’s -66kg and +100kg, and women’s -70kg finals were held.

Amid huge support from a considerable number of spectators, Olympian Shah Hussain Shah, while representing Army, comfortably defeated Wapda’s Yousuf Riaz in the +100kg category.

He hardly took a minute to overcome his opponent and received huge appreciation from the fans.

Shah Hussain Shah, who is the son of Hussain Shah, the legend boxer who had won the bronze medal for Pakistan in the 1988 Olympic Games, is considered the main hope for the country in the next Olympic Games in 2020.

Army, Wapda win titles

Kamal Raza from the HEC and Yasir Hussain from the Railways won bronze medals in this category.

“I am very happy after winning the gold medal. I am also impressed with young talent in the country, which shows the game is on the right track,” Shah Hussain Shah, who spends most of time in Japan with his family, told Dawn.

It is relevant to note here that the discipline of judo has been ignored by the Pakistan Olympic Association (POA) while finalising disciplines for Pakistan in which it will participate at the Islamic Solidarity Games, slated to be held in Azerbaijan’s capital Baku from May 12-22.

If the status quo persists and judo not made part of the contingent, Pakistan may miss a chance to win some medals in this game.

Recently, during his visit to Islamabad, POA president retired General Arif Hassan told journalists that judo was not made part of the contingent because its federation had filed some legal cases against the POA.

However, Shah Hussain Shah, said, “I have been asked to prepare for the Islamic Games.”

He further said he would participate in the event and was undergoing strict training for it and was optimistic about winning a gold medal.

Meanwhile, a source at the Pakistan Sports Board said the federal government, particularly, Minister for Inter-provincial Coordination Riaz Hussain Pirzada was pleading the case of Pakistan Judo Federation (PJF) with the POA and there were strong chances that the judo team will be sent to participate in the mega event.

Earlier, in the -66kg category, Army’s Babar Hussain won the gold followed by Manzoor Aqib from Wapda.

Danish Rasheed of the HEC and Sharjeel Ahmed from Police won the bronze medals.

In the -70kg women’s final, Beenish Khan from Wapda won the gold, while Nazia from Navy clinched the silver and Sadia Bibi from the HEC got the bronze medal.

In the men’s category during the last six days, Army won nine gold and one silver medals, followed by Wapda with one gold and seven silver medals.

Railways claimed the third position after winning two silver and four bronze medals.

Whereas, in the women category, Wapda clinched the trophy by winning five gold and two bronze medals followed by Army, whose judokas won three gold, one silver and three bronze medals.

Navy obtained the third position with three silver and two bronze medals.

Overall, 195 judokas from 14 teams — Army, Wapda, Railways, Police, HEC, DHA, Balochistan, Punjab, KP, Sindh, Islamabad, Fata, Gilgit-Baltistan and AJK — participated in the men and women championships, organised by the PJF in collaboration with Army.

Riaz Pirzada was the chief guest on the final day.

The Japanese ambassador to Pakistan Takashi Kurai also graced the occasion.

Army sports director Brigadier Ghulam Jilani, PJF president retired Colonel Junaid Alam and Judo Union of Asia’s vice-president Rana Shuja Ali were also in attendance.

The minister and the Japanese ambassador distributed trophies and medals among the winners and runners-up.

The ambassador presented 141 mats to the PJF for promotion of the game in Pakistan. He also appreciated performance of the players.

Riaz Pirzada, while speaking on the occasion, said, “Holding of this event will certainly help raise the standard of judo in Pakistan.”

He congratulated the PJF president, all players and officials who participated in the event.

Pirzada termed Shah Hussain Shah as the future of Pakistan judo and assured him of his complete support.

Published in Dawn February 19th, 2017