LONDON: Saudi judoka Eissa Majrashi enters training camp in a few days in preparation for the Judo Armed Forces Championship starting March 9 in Algeria and the Asian Senior Judo Championship in Taipei in May.
Majrashi, an upcoming player in the country’s more popular martial arts sport, will be seeing action in the -60 kilograms weight category.
Majrashi trains under coach Mohammed Subai.
“When he set a goal, he focuses on reaching it and disregards anything else,” said Subai of his standout pupil.
“I’ve known Majrashi for more than 10 years and he would never let me down. He does not talk a lot but he does what he have to do with persistence,” the coach added.
“I just feel it. With the changes in the Saudi Judo Federation and support hopefully this year is going to be good. I’m very optimistic about the Saudi national team participation though we have two key players injured. But they will be back in shape and fit to compete,” said Majrashi. Commenting on their participation in the 2nd Islamic Solidarity Games to be held in October in Iran, Majrashi said, “This is going to be very special specially because it relates to us all as Muslims.”
After the death of his father, Majrashi has had to quit school and join the Armed Forces to be able to help support his family. He continued practicing judo while earning for a living.
After earning the trust of his colleagues at work and the judo team, he is now in his eleventh grade and looks forward to graduating and getting a higher degree. “I’m sure this would help me become a better person, and if I wanted to help my family I need to help myself first,” said Majrashi. Despite his young age, the 23-year old Majrashi had already collected victories in both local and international levels representing his club, Heraa of Makkah, and the Saudi national team.
His major success was achieved in Nov. 2007 when he emerged champion in the 11th Pan Arab Games held in Egypt. He was always leading in his event and managed to collect the gold in most of the local competitions in addition to winning six times in Gulf and four in Arab competitions. He also showed an impressive performance in the 2008 International Judo Open Championship in Algeria by placing third. Recently, he also clinched the silver medal in the West-Asian Judo championship in Jordan in Dec. 2008, and later in the same month he won the gold in the International Judo Tournament for Police in Libya.
