PESHAWAR
Pakistan Army and Pakistan Wapda players Sunday dominated in the ongoing 27th Men and 10 Women National Ranking Judo Championship being played here at Lala Rafique Sports Arena under the aegis of Pakistan Judo Federation and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Judo Association here on Sunday.
Pakistan Army players won the first position in six different weights categories and cemented their position for the medals. Senior Vice President of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Judo Association Masood Ahmed distributed medals among the athletes.
A total of fourteen teams from all over Pakistan are participating in the Championship including Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan, Islamabad, Merged Tribal Areas (KP-A), Gilgit Baltistan, HEC, Pakistan Army, Pakistan WAPDA, Pakistan Navy, Pakistan Police.
Pakistan Army team is defending the title with two of the prominent judokas – Pakistan’s famous international judo players Shah Hussain and Amna Toyoda from Japan are also participating in these competitions.
Olympian Shah Hussain, who is also Asian Bronze Medalist, Commonwealth Silver Medalist, South Asian Triple Gold Medalists are among the competitors. He successfully defended his title. Shah Hussain won first position in 110kg. Shah Hussain Shah is the son of National Hero Hussain Shah who won a Bronze medal in the Olympics.
In the 110 kg event, Hamid Ali of Pakistan Navy came second, Sabir Ali of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Yusuf Riaz of Punjab came third. In the Men’s 66 kg category, Muhammad Hussain took gold medal, Naseeb Khan of Balochistan took silver medal while Salman Khan of Punjab and Muhammad Omar of Pak Navy bagged bronze medals respectively.
Ali Akbar of Pak Army won the 55kg gold. Talha Khan of HEC was second. Omar of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and M Sadiq of WAPDA were third in the same category. Sabir Hussain of Pakistan Army was the winner in the last category of 50kg. Noor Khan of Balochistan was second while Adnan of Pakistan Railways and Mogan of Punjab were third.
In the women 70kg, Benish of Wapda won gold medal, Amna of Punjab got silver medal while both Khatijah of KP and Fazilaat of Pakistan Navy grabbed the bronze medals. Manahil Iftikhar of Army won the 48kg gold. Punjab’s Anam Anwar was second and HEC’s Aqsa Ahmed was third and KP’s Mohsina was third.
In the 44kg weight Irum Shehzadi of Pakistan Army won gold medal, Mashal of Punjab got silver medal, promising upcoming Asifa Noor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, who also stunned a top ranking player from Pakistan Wapda, got bronze medal while Nida, also from KP, won bronze medal in the same category.
Asifa, hailing from a remote village of Lakki Marwat, said that she would continue her efforts to win back more medals for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the Judo Championship.
“I am working hard and learning more from events where one can see international and Olympian players competing side-by-side,” 13-year-old Asifa Noor said. She also lauded the Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Mahmood Khan for developing sports infrastructure even in remote areas where girls can easily continue their sports. She also thanked her mother and father for supporting her and her elder sister who also won gold medals for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in National Junior and Senior Championships of Judo.
In the 40kg women category Kausar Iqbal of Wapda won gold medal, followed by Nayyab of HEC with silver medal and Shakina of Balochistan and Sana Noor of Punjab won bronze medals. The second position was won by Iram Shehzad and the second position was won by Mishal of Punjab. Kausar Iqbal of WAPDA bagged the first position in 40 kg. Nayab of HEC bagged the second position. Sakina of Balochistan and Sana Anwar of Punjab bagged the third position.
