With hardly two months left for the championship scheduled to be held in Paris from August 23-28, the 21-year-old judoka from Nepal is only expecting to gain some experience from the international event.[break]
“The short training is not sufficient to fetch medal in the world championship,” said Maharjan.
Fresh from his victory in the South Asian Judo Championship where he defeated the players of Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, Bangladesh and the host Pakistan in men´s U-60 kg category, Maharjan is upbeat of putting up a good performance but is wary that success in the World Championship is but a far-fetched dream because of the short-term training prevalent in Nepal.
“I´m confident of performing well but the training has not started yet. I´m not expecting any medals. It´s only about gaining experience,” he said.
Maharjan said that his experience of participating in the World Championship will help him later on when he competes in the South Asian Games (SAG) in New Delhi next year.
“Competing with the best players of the world will help me in the SAG. SAG is my main target,” he added.
Nepal Judo Association President Deepak Harsha Bajracharya also echoed the same views. Bajracharya said that the international exposure will boost the players´ morale.
“Our players can gain a lot of knowledge from the championship. The experience in the World Championship will also help the players for the preparation of the upcoming SAG,” he said.
Bajracharya said that a special training for the selected players will begin from Tuesday. He, nevertheless, acknowledged that the training period is too short as NJA has to bear all the cost for the training.
The other player selected for the championship is Phupu Lhamu Khatri, who won silver in the women´s U-63 kg during the South Asian Judo Championship in Islamabad. Khatri will be competing in the women´s U-57 kg in Paris.
Khatri, recently promoted to the tenth grade at Prabhat Secondary School, Chhetrapati, is worried about her tight schedule as she has to attend coaching classes from Tuesday, the same day that her training begins.
“I have to attend coaching classes in the morning too. It´s very difficult to manage time for both judo and school,” said Khatri.
Meanwhile, both the players along with Maharjan´s training partner Ramesh Magar will also be receiving an allowance of Rs 250 per day from the National Sports Council for their outstanding performance in judo.
“We have selected the players based on their performance in the South Asian Judo Championship. We are sending them to Paris as a reward to encourage them,” added NJA President Bajracharya.
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