Pakistan’s Wajahat Sarwar defeated world number 20 Spain’s Sergio Trillo in his international debut at the International Judo Federation Junior World Championships in Miami, but lost to Russia’s Ramazan Malsuigenov in the second round.
Despite the defeat, the Pakistan Judo Federation (PJF) is delighted with Sarwar, who has trained in Japan and is representing Pakistan for the first time.
He began his campaign in the -100kg event at the U21 World Championship by defeating Trillo in just four minutes to progress to the second round match of Pool B in the competition. However, he lost that match to world number eight Malsuigenov.
The event is featuring 521 world class athletes from 72 countries and 19-year-old Wajahat is the only South Asian vying for a title.
“It’s the best debut for any Pakistani judoka at an international event, even though he lost in the second round,” PJF secretary Masood Ahmed told The Express Tribune. “Wajahat has made us proud and also shocked many with his win against Trillo. We couldn’t have asked for more.”
Masood added that Wajahat has an advantage over other local athletes as the teenager is based in Japan.
“The young athlete really understands the competition as most of the competitors are coming from either Russia or Japan," he said. So he has a good chance of showcasing his talent. This will certainly help the international community see that Pakistan has valuable athletes.”
Wajahat qualified for the repechage event to compete for a bronze medal late last night.
He is the second Japan-based player representing Pakistan internationally after Commonwealth Games’ silver-medallist Shah Hussain Shah.
Published in The Express Tribune, October 26th, 2014.
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