Pakistan’s medal quest meets more success in LA

KARACHI: Pakistan’s Tauseef Hassan on Friday produced a stunning performance when he grabbed a gold medal in the cycling competition of the Special Olympics World Games in Los Angeles.
Tauseef topped the 10 kilometre road race in the division seven with an impressive timing of 22:58.90 to add to the gold-medal haul of the country.
Albalooshi Moosa of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) followed Hassan with the silver by clocking 23:00:16. The bronze went to Rignaakos Georgios of Greece.
As many as six riders took part in the race conducted at Long Beach.
Meanwhile, athlete Saira Ikram lifted silver in the 100m sprint by clocking 18:39 seconds. Verrissoun Fatima Zahra of Morocco clinched gold by inking 17:62 seconds of timing.
Asim Zar, who grabbed gold in the 100m freestyle swimming the other day, continued to impress, securing silver in the 50m freestyle with a timing of 58:73 seconds. A capacity crowd witnessed the show. Mc Bean Nicholas of Jamaica claimed gold in the event with 55:64 seconds of timing.
Nayab Bibi finished seventh in the 100m freestyle while Marvi Azhar got fourth position in the same event.
In the basketball semi-finals, Pakistan defeated Poland 20-17 with Muhammad Usman emerging as star performer with six points.
In the five-a-side football competition, Pakistan lost in the semi-final. They will now be playing for the third position.
It was a memorable day for Pakistan’s tennis players Ahsan Anwar and Muhammad Arif Qayyum to receive their gold medal which they had claimed in the men’s doubles on Thursday by beating Venezuela’s Soleman and Eskander 4-2, 4-0 in the final.
Former American tennis star Pete Sampras also visited the tennis arena and played a few shots with Karachi-born Arif Qayyum.
In the extravaganza, which will conclude on Sunday, a 78-member Pakistan’s contingent has been featuring in nine disciplines.