AL NAJJAR’S OLYMPIC HEARTBREAK
Jun 12, 2021
Jordan Bashar Al Najjar missed out on an Olympic spot in his final fight at the Karate Olympic Qualification Tournament being held in Paris, France, which attracted 500 fighters from 98 countries.
Al-Najjar reached the final round of the under-75 kg competitions, which consisted of four players, but he sadly came up short, despite an incredible day of performances that saw him win six of his nine fights.
He was hoping to emulate the heroics of his teammate Abdul Rahman Al-Masatafa, who booked his spot for this summer’s Tokyo Olympic Games the previous day in the -67kg competition.
He started well, beating Lithuanian, Gergellatis; Slovakian, Jal Jaka; two-time World Champion, Douglas Brose, of Brazil; and The Netherlands’ Timothy Petersen.
But in the last four he lost to Hungarian 10th seed, Karoly Gabor Harspataki, which meant he dropped down to the repechage competition.
A win followed against Belgium’s Mohauden Quentin to reach the league of four, where three would qualify.
He beat Germany's Noah Beech but lost again to Harspataki and then Kazakhstan’s Nurkanat Azikanov to miss his chance.
Meanwhile, his teammate Aseel Al-Nuaimi won her first fight in the -61kg category against American Alyssa, but lost her second fight against Ukrainian Anita Serugina.
Jordan finishes its participation on Sunday with Mazen Al Jaidi in the -75kg competition.
