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Thursday November 28, 2024

Iranian Kazmi set to coach Pak judokas ahead of mega events

By Alam Zeb Safi
April 21, 2022

KARACHI: Pakistan Judo Federation (PJF) is on the brink of hiring the services of Iranian coach Sajjad Kazmi once again.

Sajjad had a coaching stint with Pakistan from 2012 to 2016.

A senior official of Pakistan Judo Federation (PJF) on Wednesday confirmed the development.

“Yes we have approached Sajjad through the cooperation and assistance of the Ministry of IPC and Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) and he has accepted our offer. Hopefully he will be here by the middle of May,” the PJF vice-president Masood Ahmed told ‘The News’.

Sajjad is a Black Belt 6 DAN. Sajjad belongs to Bandar Anzali, a city in the Gilan province of Iran, and works in Iran’s Police. The PJF is hiring his services for one year, most probably until the South Asian Games which Pakistan will host in Islamabad and Lahore early next year.

During Kazmi’s last stint with Pakistan, emerging hero Qaiser Afridi had been coached by him when he was just a raw talent in the early days of his career a few years ago.

Sajjad also was Pakistan’s coach when Japan-based Olympian judoka Shah Hussain Shah won bronze medals in the Asian Championships in Kuwait and Bangkok.

“We had sent a squad to Iran in 2009 and Sajjad had trained them for one month. And in that squad there were a couple of fresh talented boys who later got gold medals in the 2010 Dhaka South Asian Games. That means he is an able coach and we are happy with his previous stint of four years with us. He remained with us until the 2016 South Asian Games in India and there too we yielded good results,” Masood said.

“We have put up the case before the government and hopefully it will be approved and by middle of May we will have him,” Masood assured.

Sajjad also served in Uzbekistan from 2018 to 2020. In the 2019 South Asian Games in Nepal, he served as Bangladesh coach which finished third behind India and Pakistan.

Currently Pakistan’s judo camp is in progress in Quetta to prepare for the forthcoming events, more specifically for the 14th South Asian Games.

The PJF plans to shift the camp to any hill area. “Yes our plan is to to shift the camp to any hill station. We have also written to the Army for a space in the PT School in Abbottabad. We have also seen a place in Kalam and have interacted with the DC Swat Junaid Khan and hopefully we will be able to manage training zones for summer. We want to keep the stuff for three months in Abbottabad and Kalam,” Masood revealed.

“Judo is a tough game and fighters get perspired soon and so it will be very good if we are able to manage a training zone in the cold areas of the country. Training here will also boost the stamina of the athletes. We have 40 male and female fighters in the camp and we will try to have them also at hill stations,” the PJF VP said.

It would not add any further pressure to the exchequer of the PSB as, according to Masood, they would manage everything within the set rules of the Board.

He said that Olympian Shah Hussain plans to fight in the forthcoming international events in -90 kilogramme.

Previously Shah was playing in -100kg, a weight in which he established his career and also featured in two back-to-back Olympics in 2016 in Rio and 2020 in Tokyo.

PJF will field judokas in the Commonwealth Games, Islamic Games and Asian Games. That means Kazmi will have to play a role in building the lot for the pressing events besides working on the entire stuff for the 2023 South Asian Games and other international events in between.