ISLAMABAD, Oct 30 (APP):Judoka Shah Hussain Shah has qualified for Tokyo 2020 Olympics on Asia’s continental quota following his remarkable performance in 100kg division in the recently-held Abu Dhabi Judo Grand Slam.
“The latest ranking list released by International Judo Federation (IJF) shows Shah at the 42nd position in Olympic qualifying ranking with 746 points. He has taken a huge jump of 20 positions as previously he was at number 62. This is the highest ever position of any Pakistani Judoka in history,” Masood Ahmed, vice president of Pakistan Judo Federation (PJF) told APP on Wednesday.
Shah had finished at the fifth position in Abu Dhabi Grand Slam. “Now, he has left his Indian rival Avtar Singh miles behind as earlier he (Singh) was 16 points ahead of him. But now Singh is 180 points behind him,” he added.
According to Masood, Japan-based Judoka started his qualifying journey in 2019, whereas Judokas from rest of the world set off one year prior to him.
“However, the federation sent him for one-month training in Hungary to acquaint him with European style of fighting as this was his grey area. During the past five months we fielded him in five Olympic qualifying events. We bore all his expenses from our own resources,” he said.
The Judo Olympic qualifying period, which commenced in May 2018 will in May, next year. Various international judo events contribute towards accumulation of ranking points and top athletes will be selected in May 2020.
“As per IJF rules if a Judoka obtains 54th Olympic ranking position he would be able to secure a berth for prestigious event on continental quota. Now, Shah only needs to maintain his position till the end of qualification period (May 20, 2020).
“He can’t afford to miss any event in this crucial race. Hence, we’ll send him in a series of events, taking place in Australia, Japan, Hong Kong. We’ll also field him in six more events in Europe to help him maintain his position,” Masood added.