QUETTA: During the ongoing National Games in Quetta, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Judoka Sabir Shah clinched a gold medal after taking down Army’s Shan Ali in 10 seconds during their fight in the 90kg category. Despite being the favourite, Ali was defeated in an astounding 10 seconds by Shah, who took home the first-ever gold medal for KP in the history of Judo at the National Games.

Shah defeated athletes from Wapda, Balochistan and Police in the earlier rounds before reaching the final. During the current National Games, this is Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s second gold medal. Shah, alongside Navy’s Hamid, will also represent Pakistan at Judo’s international event in Russia next month. Earlier, two-time Olympian judoka Shah Hussain on Wednesday said that he will not be able to feature in the forthcoming Asian Games and 2024 Olympics Qualifiers because he is not in a position to prepare accordingly. "No, I don't have any plan to either feature in the Asian Games or Olympics Qualifiers," Shah told The News in an informal chat from Quetta where he is representing Army in the judo competitions in the 34th National Games.

"The big issue is that it's too costly to prepare professionally for these events, especially the Olympics. I cannot afford to spend from my own pocket at this moment," Shah said.

Published in The Daily National Courier, May, 27 2023

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