Lahore: Pakistan Judo federation on Thursday announced a seven-member national team to take part in the Asian Games, to be held in Indonesia from August 18 to September 2. Shah Hussain Shan, Qaisar khan, Babar Hussain and Nadeem Akram form the men’s team while Humaira Ashiq, Maryam and Amina Toyoda are the members of female team,
Highlighting the individual past performance of the team, Pakistan Judo Federation (PJF) official said Olympian Shah Hussain is the bronze medallist of Asian Championships, 2013, silver medallist of Commonwealth Games, fifth place finisher in Asian Games and gold medallist of South Asian Championships, 2014.
“Shah is now getting training in Japan from Nagase Takanori, bronze medallist in Olympics, 2014 world champion, Asian champion and also achieved medals from 2013 to 2016 in different international championships. Shah is hopeful of doing his best in Asian Games for raising the flag of Pakistan,” he added.
Athletes from the North Korea and South Korea will jointly compete in three disciplines in Indonesia, the Olympic Council of Asia confirmed.
The Asian Games’ participants from the two countries will field a unified Korea team in six events, the council noted.
“[This] is the first time in history, further demonstrating the power of sport to unite,” the OCA said in a statement.
Indonesian President Joko Widodo has officially invited both North Korea leader Kim Jong-un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in to the opening ceremony of the 18th Asian Games in Jakarta in August.
The latest OCA data outlines that a total of 11,300 athletes from 45 member Olympic committees are set to take part in the Games, to be held from August 18 to September 2. The athletes will compete in 465 events across 40 sports and 67 disciplines.
The Games will chiefly take place in the capital Jakarta and the city of Palembang in South Sumatra province, with other cities in West Java providing a supporting role.
