Tashkent, Uzbekistan, November 5, 2022: Judo might not be a mainstream sport among women in Iran, but for the country’s national coach Toktam Bidel and leading referee Fereshtek Ghanbarpour, the OCA Development Programme in Tashkent might just be the spark to set things alight in the country.
“This has been a very useful seminar. We had a world-class instructor from the International Judo Federation and we have learned a lot, including all the new rules which have come into effect,” said Ghanbarpour, Vice-President of the Referees Committee at the Iran Judo Federation.
Her words were echoed by close friend Bidel who represented Iran in judo at the 2010 Guangzhou Asian Games, and is hoping to inspire more young girls to follow her footsteps, and go further by winning medals.
“I did not have a podium finish at the 2010 Asian Games, but I hope one of my pupils will be able to win a medal one day. I have learned a lot from the very experienced instructor we had, and I will take home a whole lot of new knowledge. I must thank the Olympic Council of Asia for having this course,” Bidel said.
The Iranian women – there were two male counterparts too, a coach and a referee – at this ground-breaking Development Programme were talking about Uzbekistan national hero, Armen Bagdasarov who was the judo instructor.
Bagdasarov was the first athlete from independent Uzbekistan to win an Olympic medal – winning silver at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. He currently holds the position of chief referee-director of the International Judo Federation, and wit his years of experience confidently ran both the coaching and refereeing course for judo.
All 43 judo coaches and referees who participated in Tashkent received an OCA Certificate of Participation signed by Acting President Raja Randhir Singh.
“This has been a fantastic seminar and it was very important that we had both coaches and referees together. I must thank the Olympic Council of Asia for holding this event, especially in Uzbekistan, and I wish all of you good luck in the future,” said Bagdasarov, after he had distributed the certificates along with Uzbekistan NOC Secretary General Oybek Kasimov.
