LAHORE: Pakistan Judo Federation (PJF) is facing an uphill task to produce a replacement for the two-time Olympian Shah Hussain whose career is now almost over.
Not only the Tokyo-based fighter is in the final stage of his career as he has also abandoned the plans to feature in the 2024 Paris Olympics Qualifiers but Pakistan’s second-best fighter Qaisar Afridi has also left the country and has now settled in England.
The double blows have left the PJF utterly unsettled. Shah Hussain is the only Pakistani judoka who has competed in the 2016 Rio Olympics and 2020 Tokyo Olympics after qualifying for the world’s most prestigious events on the basis of the continental quota.
Qaisar was set to replace him but he ditched the country at a stage when he was ready to leave an impact in the international circuit.
Keeping in view Pakistan’s sports system it looks extremely difficult to find the sorts of fighters like Tokyo-groomed Shah but a PJF official said that they would produce another Shah.
“Yes I agree that plugging Shah’s gap is too tough as he had been groomed in Tokyo where judo is at the top level but you know we also produced Qaisar and we are committed to produce Shah’s replacement,” the official told The News in a detailed chat on Saturday.
“We have identified four highly talented young fighters and if the state helps us then we are confident to produce another Olympian in the next few years,” he said.
“Noor Khan (Balochistan), Mohammad Abbas (KP), Ihtisham (Punjab) and Moeed-ur-Rehman (Sindh) are the sorts of young fighters who if given top training in the Central Asian countries during the next few years then I am hopeful they will be able to press for the Olympics seats,” he said.
“Although we have also focused on some seniors including Sabir, Moeen, Sidaqat Ali and Asif who all are gold medallists and are in the camp but when we will get a foreign training tour we will also send the above-mentioned four youngsters who have the capability to grow well,” the official said.
“You know judo is a highly competitive sport and here you need to give top exposure to your fighter and only then he will improve and will be able to qualify for the Olympics,” he said.
“For implementing the plans we will need money and will need the state support as without that things become too difficult. Although we have suffered recently due to Shah Hussain’s injury and Qaisar went to England but this time will also pass and inshaAllah you will see judo will once bounce back,” the official said.
“It’s a challenge for us now and I believe we will produce a fighter who will feature in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics,” the official was quick to add.
The official also disclosed that in the next few months Pakistan will be featuring in a few events.
“In the end of this month we are going to send five boys to Iran for a peace event. These are junior boys and mostly belong to Balochistan. They will go by road.
Then in October an event will be held in Kuwait to celebrate the 60th anniversary of the diplomatic relations between Pakistan and Kuwait and we will make an effort to send the entire team of seven fighters,” he said.
Alam Zeb Safi Alam Zeb Safi is a senior reporter for The News