Pakistani players in Rio Olympics
Shares
ISLAMABAD: (APP) Pakistan’s judoka Shah Hussain Shahwill be seen in action on Thursday when he will take on either Ukrainian or Uzbek judoka in the -100 kilogramme contest in the ongoing Olympic Games at Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
The world number 55, who got by in the elimination round of 64 will be facing challenge from the winner of fight between Ukraine’s Bloshenko Artern, who is world number 23 and Uzbekistan’s Kurbonov Soyib, the world number 31.
Though both the boxers have better rankings then that of Shah, Secretary Pakistan Judo Federation Masood Ahmed sounded optimistic that Pakistani judoka would win the fight and qualify for the pre-quarterfinal stage. “It will be an interesting fight. But we are hopeful he (Shah) will emerge victorious as he has undergone tough training in Tokyo,” he told APP on Wednesday.
“We don’t have any doubt about his abilities. He is a highly talented judoka. He has worked really hard for the event.
We’re in constant touch with him and he is quite confident and in high spirits,” Masood added.
Shah, the son of Pakistan’s Olympic bronze medallist boxer Hussain Shah is the only Pakistani athlete, who qualified for the event under continental quota. During the past two years he has featured in a number of events and though he did not win any major fight in the qualifiers, he gave tough time to his opponents, earning enough points to qualify for the prestigious sports event.
Meanwhile, Pakistan’s Dubai-based Lianna Swan will vie in the 50m freestyle slots on Friday. Lianna, who won gold medal in the South Asian Games, earlier this year, is country’s outstanding swimmer.
Similarly, athlete Mehboob Ali, who is national record-holder, will also be competing in the 400m contest on Friday. While athlete Najma Parveen will feature in the 200m slots on August 15.
Shooter Ghulam Mustafa Bashir will by trying his luck in the 25 metre rapid fire pistol on Friday. Pakistan’s female shooter Minhal Sohail, who appeared in 10 metre air rifle on August 6 conceded defeat as she finished 28th in the contest.
