Pakistan look to train top judokas in Central Asia ahead of 2028 Olympic Qualifiers

LAHORE: Keeping in view preparations for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics Qualifiers Pakistan’s judo think tank is mulling an option to train the country’s young breed in central Asian countries on a long-term basis besides giving them extensive exposure in the coming Olympics cycle.

“We will send our new players to Central Asian countries where you normally don’t face visa issues and we have talked with them and inshaAllah on bilateral level we will manage the things and we will also conduct long training sessions with them,” Pakistan Judo Federation (PJF) president Col Junaid told The News in an interview on Saturday.

“Our entire focus will be on juniors and cadets as they are our future and we will groom them the way we had groomed Qaiser Afridi and they will be fielded in the 2028 Olympics qualifiers,” he said.

“You know Olympics Qualifiers is a long process for over two years but before these two years the early two years are more important. If you field your judokas in maximum international events in the early two years circle it will help them improve their rankings and this thing will help them later on in the Olympics Qualifiers which is a two-year cycle normally,” he said. “But if you don’t utilize the early two years in the four-year circle for Olympics then it becomes very difficult for your fighters to click in the Qualifiers. We will ensure proper exposure for our top crop,” Junaid stressed.

“Our 2024 Paris Olympics mission ended prematurely due to injury to two-time Olympian Shah Hussain and you know Qaiser Afridi went to England and now our main focus for the next Olympics circle will be to pick fighters in the National Championship to be held this summer,” he said. “And that crop will be prepared on the lines on which we had prepared and groomed both Shah and Qaiser. If we set aside Shah, as he was labelled as Japan-based fighter but no doubt Qaiser was purely a Pakistan-grown product on whom we had worked hard but unfortunately he left the country,” he said.

“We would have a very good breed which is in pipeline and you know Prime Minister Youth Games are in progress and our national event is also in pipeline so it would have advantage as far as raw material is concerned,” he said.

“It’s an ambitious plan and we will try our level best to implement it. We also will discuss this with the state as state support is direly needed if we are to achieve our goal,” Junaid said.

Col Junaid, also a Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission Sports Director and Protocol Officer, revealed that they have also founded a club in the name of Takbeer Judo Club last year.

“We last year founded this club and two-time Olympian Shah Hussain and IJF athlete commission chairperson Sabrina Filzmoser are its brand ambassadors,” he said.

“We are looking to acquire a piece of land in Gilgit for the club. The basic purpose of the club is to offer membership to the country’s top judokas and the fighters will also be trained here. They will be given monthly stipends also which will help in meeting their financial needs,” Junaid said. The country’s seasoned judoka Shah Hussain is in the twilight of his career and Qaiser Afridi has ditched his country by settling in UK despite the fact that PJF invested on him a lot. And now it’s a tough task for the federation to return to the Olympics fold.