Pakistan’s judokas will soon have an Iranian coach to prepare them for major international events, a senior official of Pakistan Judo Federation (PJF) said on Friday.
“We are set to hire the services of Iranian coach Sajjad Kazmi once again. Hopefully, we will be able to engage him by mid of next month,” Masood Ahmed, vice president of PJF told APP.
Sajjad, who had a five-year coaching stint with Pakistan from 2012 to 2016 is a Black Belt 6 DAN. He belongs to the Iranian city of Bandar Anzali and currently imparting training to Iran’s police officials in Isfahan.
“We have a very busy Calendar year for our ju-dokas. Several important events are taking place. Hence, initially, we have decided to hire him for one year.” “Currently, his case is in the Ministry of Inter Provincial Coordination and hopefully after the holy month of Ramadan it will be approved,” Masood said.
During Kazmi’s last stint with Pakistan, the na-tional judokas produced standout performance. He honed the skills of Pakistan’s future prospect Qaiser Afridi, enabling him to come to the limelight. He was also Pakistan’s coach when Japan-based judoka Shah Hussain Shah claimed bronze medals in the Asian Championships in Kuwait and Bangkok.
According to Masood, back in 2009, Pakistan had sent its judokas to Iran for a one-month training programme wherein they were also trained by Kazmi. “During that short training stint, he provided such useful tips to our judokas that they won got gold medals in the 2010 Dhaka South Asian Games.
“Keeping in view his past services, we have de-cided to hire him once again,” he added.
The PJF vice president said that Pakistan sports board (PSB) had arranged a training camp in Quetta to provide much-needed training to the country’s potential judokas. “Kazmi will join our athletes at the Quetta camp, which has commenced on April 1.” Currently, around 40 judokas are getting training at the camp and Masood said those displaying good performance would get the chance to represent the country at the international level. He said the judokas were being prepared for the Commonwealth Games (CWG), Asian Games and Islamic Solidarity Games (ISG). “We will provide an opportunity to our talented athletes to showcase their skills and potential at the international events.—APP
