Two judokas Karamat Butt (-81kg) and Mohammad Pervez (-100kg) departed for France on Saturday to participate in the 28th World Judo Championships beginning from August 23. Brigadier Iqtidar Naseer Ahmed, Director of Army Sports Directorate who is the manager of the squad and Masood Ahmed, secretary, Pakistan Judo Federation (PJF), are already in France to attend the general council meeting of the International Judo Federation (IJF).
Karamat Butt had claimed gold in the South Asian Judo Championship in Islamabad recently while Pervez had won silver. "This event will also serve as qualifiers for next year's 2012 London Olympics. There is also a chance that our judokas will be trained there after the event as the judo authorities over there have showed interest to help us," a PJF official told APP. However, Butt and Pervez were undergoing training in the camps of their respective departments Wapda and Army in Quetta for this specific event.