ISLAMABAD, Nov 07 (APP):Judoka Shah Hussain will feature in Osaka Grand Slam, the penultimate event of the season to keep a firm grip on the Olympic spot, he had recently earned.
The event will take place from November 22 to 24 at the Maruzen Intec Arena Osaka, Japan.
Shah 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 where he finished at the fifth position.
The latest ranking list released by International Judo Federation (IJF) shows Shah at the 44th position in Olympic qualifying ranking with 746 points. “His close rival, Avtar Singh of Indian is at the 54th position with 560 points. We’ll also field him in Asian Open, taking place in Hong Kong early, next month to help consolidate his position,” Masood Ahmed, vice president of Pakistan Judo Federation (PJF) told APP on Thursday.
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, we sent him for a month training camp in International Judo Federation Academy Budapest, Hungary to help him learn European style of judo 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.
“Shah only needs to maintain his position till the end of qualification period (May 20, 2020). He can’t afford to miss qualification rounds in this crucial race. Hence, we’ll also send him in four more events, taking place in Europe, early next year,” Masood added.