This Hyderabadi has done it again! The 41-year-old Pathan Jameel Khan, the martial arts exponent, who moved to the US to take up karate training in an American school in New York a few months ago, made an emphatic statement again on Sunday winning the gold in the black belt division of the World Championship in Virginia.
This is incidentally the second world championship gold that Jameel has won, after moving to the US, this month.
Ironically, Jameel, winner of 15 gold, 13 silver and 17 bronze at the national and international events, including two 2016 World Cup silver in the US, has to look for greener pastures after his repeated pleas for financial assistance and a job did not evoke any positive response from the authorities concerned.
“It’s a pity that I had to move to the US to take up this training job which fetches me enough money to take care of my family of ageing mother, four brothers and a sister,” says Jameel, even while being subdued despite winning two world championship gold (conducted by two separate world federations).
But why? “My ultimate dream is to represent India in the 2020 Olympics when karate will be introduced. Since I realised that even winning at the highest level will not assure me the kind of exposure I need for the Olympics, I had no option but to move to the US,” counters Jameel.
This BA graduate from Dr. B.R. Ambedkar Open University, whose only livelihood when in Hyderabad was by training a handful of enthusiastic young talent, points out that the three-year contract with the American school should also ensure adequate exposure to the toughest competitors in the field. “Besides training, the stay in the US should also help in picking up a few new tricks too,” says Jameel, who also won two bronze in the men’s forms and weapons categories.
Will you come back after the contract period? “As things stand now, my contract will end in 2019, one year before the Olympics. By God’s grace if everything falls in place and I get the help from the Telangana government, I will train and put in the best efforts to realise my ultimate dream of playing in Olympics the next year,” Jameel concludes.
