Pakistan’s Saadi Abbas lands fifth place in Karate Championship in Turkey
Saadi has represented Pakistan at various international forums
September 24, 2017
Pakistani karate champion Saadi Abbas stood fifth in World Karate 1 Series A Karate Championship organised by World Karate Federation from September 23-24 in Istanbul.
A total of 151 athletes from 80 countries participated in his weight category (75 Kg). Karate Series - A is part of qualifier for the Tokyo Olympics 2020 ranking.
• In the first fight Saadi defeated Ali Akabari of Iran by 3:0
• Saadi defeated World Silver Medalist Erman Eltemur of Turky by 2:0 in the second fight
• In the third fight Saadi defeated Noah Bitsch of Germany by 1:0
• In the fourth fight (Quarter final) Saadi defeated Nikola Malovic of Montenegro by 2:0
Saadi successfully reached quarter-finals and defeated Iran’s star Sajad Hayati by 3:0. But unfortunately after a tough fight with Japan’s Ken Nishimura in the semi-finals Saadi got a fracture in the middle finger of his left hand and lost the fight by 1:0. Nishimura is the current title holder of Karate 1 Series A.
In the bronze medal fight Saadi lost against five-time world champion Rafeal Aghayev of Azerbaijan by 2:0 and secured fifth position in this high stakes match.
A player like Saadi is indeed a pride for our country, said Chairman Pakistan Karate Federation Muhammad Jahangir. Saadi has represented Pakistan at various international forums. He is a two-time Commonwealth Champion, US Open Champion, Asian Gold Medalist (only gold medalist of South-Asian region), South-Asian champion and a silver medalist in fourth Islamic Solidarity Games 2017.
