Pakistan Ju-jitsu Athletes To Compete In The World Games In USA

Pakistan's two highly talented ju-jitsu athletes will be vying in the 11th edition of The World Games, scheduled to be held in Birmingham, Alabama, USA from 7th to 17th July, a top Ju-Jitsu Federation (PJJF) official said on Wednesday

ISLAMABAD, (APP - UrduPoint / Pakistan Point News - 1st Jun, 2022 ) :Pakistan's two highly talented ju-jitsu athletes will be vying in the 11th edition of The World Games, scheduled to be held in Birmingham, Alabama, USA from 7th to 17th July, a top Ju-Jitsu Federation (PJJF) official said on Wednesday.

The edition, originally planned for 2021, was postponed to 2022 because of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic. The World Games celebrated their premire in 1981 in Santa Clara, California, and now, a little more than 40 years later, the Games return to the USA.

"Our top athletes Dilawar Khan and Waseem will compete in the duo mixed category of the ju-jitsu discipline at the Games," Tariq Ali, associate secretary of PJJF told APP.

Tariq, who will accompany the athletes as manager-cum-coach said the ju-jitsu event of the Games would commence on July 12 but they would be flying a week prior to the competition to get acclimatized with the conditions. "We've received NOC (no objection certificate) from Pakistan sports board (PSB) and applied for the US visas. Hopefully, we'll be departing as per our plan," he added.

According to Tariq, Pakistan athletes have earned the place in the Games after years of hard work and featuring in a number of international events, which served as qualifiers.

"Qualifying for The World Games is not an easy task. Our athletes made a cut to the event after putting up impressive shows in several international contests. From Asia only Pakistan and Thailand have been able to book the berths in the prestigious Games," he said.

Other countries vying for top honours in the duo mixed category include Germany, Belgium, Montenegro and Romania.

"Pakistan ju-jitsu athletes had also qualified for The World Games 2017 in Poland. Then they were the only ones to represent the country at the quadrennial extravaganza," he added.

In the last edition of the Games national ju-jitsu athletes, Ammar and Abu Huraira represented Pakistan. They fought well but remained unable to get over the line to win the medal.

Tariq said the federation needed around three million rupees to meet travel, accommodation, and other expenses of the Pakistan squad for the Games. "We are suffering from scarcity of funds. We'll be writing to PSB to support us. We are also looking for some private sponsors to finance our athletes, who have the potential to claim medals," he added.

Around 3,600 athletes from 34 sport disciplines and over 100 countries will be competing for 223 medals in The World Games.

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