Pakistan’s Saadi Abbas lands fifth place in Karate Championship in Turkey

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.