The Pakistan Judo federation (PJF) is looking forward to sending its female judokas to India this month for training alongside their traditional rivals.
According to PJF Secretary Masood Ahmed, the athletes are fully prepared for the trip and the federation has fulfilled the formalities and documents required for their visas.
However, Ahmed said that the PJF will be waiting for the Indians to return from the Commonwealth Games first.
“There has been constant communication between both the sides,” Ahmed told The Express Tribune.
“We are waiting for the Indian officials and players to return from Glasgow, and then we’ll proceed to the next step. The exposure in India will be highly beneficial for our athletes and so far, we are keeping our fingers crossed for this tour.”
Meanwhile, Pakistan is all set to compete at the World Judo Championship in Chelyabinsk from August 25.
The official said that the players will be selected in the coming week, and the national camp will also resume soon.
“We had our Eid holidays but prior to that, our athletes were training in Peshawar with our foreign coach Sajjad Kazmi.
According to Ahmed, despite the World Championship being a solid platform for Pakistan, the federation still needed assistance from the government.
“It’s very simple. Our government should help the federations that are producing world class athletes and win medals for the country in the international circuit.
“Shah Hussain Shah’s silver medal at the Commonwealth Games is another example that the Judo athletes need to be taken seriously. Earlier this year, we also won many gold medals in the South Asian Games, meaning we have the talent but it needs to be given a chance to perform.”
Published in The Express Tribune, August 3rd, 2014.
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@PrasadDeccani: Talent indeed comes first, but you need to be humble even if you are better; being obnoxious does not help the spirit with which games are played. Leave that obnoxious attitude to Aussies...
@Aakashvaani you are wrong, There is nothing in Pakistani athletes that Indian players can learn, show your biased Goodwill gesture elsewhere(Talent comes above then sympathy or emotions) BTW if it was about Pakistani Bowlers than i would be more than happy.
India is not known for Judo; nor for good training facilities. Not sure why Pakistan is sending its Judokas to India. You are most welcome though.
Pakistani Judokas are most welcome into our country. We would love to pick some of your knowledge and experience in the field and hopefully you can learn something from us.