ISLAMABABAD: Sisters Bismah Khan and Kiran Khan set the Pakistan Sports Complex swimming pool ablaze scooping up 10 gold medals each as Army completely dominated the men and women competitions in the 33rd National Games, winning 34 gold and 13 silver medals.
The swimming contest that concluded Wednesday saw both sisters winning 10 gold medals each to create a new mark in the Games.
The two women captured five gold medals each in individual class and another five each in the relay or mix relay competition.
Army continued their domination in swimming by winning 34 gold and 13 silver medals (both men and women). Apart from that, Army also claimed four bronze medals.
Wapda with five gold, 12 silver and five bronze occupied second position followed by Sindh girls with four silver and five bronze medals.
In the men’s event, Army swept all 20 gold medals at stake with Mohammad Haseeb Tariq scooping up five gold. Army also won 10 silver and four bronze medals. Wapda collected eight silver and four bronze medals.
Syed Ali Haider Zaidi, Federal Minister for Maritime Affairs, was the chief guest and awarded gold medals to the men swimmers.
Ali Zaidi congratulated swimmers and hoped that they would continue their hard work and further excel in their respective category.
“I hope that the swimmers would work hard on their timing and would try to make it at par with international reputed swimmers. All those who earned gold medals here have really put up good show and hope that they would keep on earning laurels for their team and for the nation as well,” he said.
Army, Wapda, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab reached the semi-finals of the men’s hockey tournament being played at the Lala Ayub Stadium in Peshawar.
In the women’s semi-finals, Army will play Railways while Punjab will take on Wapda.
On Wednesday, Wapda beat Navy 8-0, Punjab defeated Balochistan 6-1 while Army had to struggle to down Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 2-0.
Peshawar Bureau adds: Country’s fastest woman Najma Parveen from Wapda added two more titles to her name here Wednesday.
Najma set a new record by winning 200m race by clocking 23.06 second and broke the record held by Sadaf Saddique of Army.
Najma has so far won four individual gold medals and one gold medal in the 4x400m relay team event with Masarat Shaheen, Rabia and Asra. She got off to a flying start in the 33rd National Games when she won 100m race by clocking 11.87 seconds. The promising athlete then clinched a second gold in the 400m race with a time of 53.66 seconds.
Najma also bagged 400m hurdles gold at the Peshawar Sports Complex by clocking 1:01:27. The jubilant athlete from Faisalabad said that she has worked very hard and it paid back in the Games. “I have faced numerous hurdles and challenges but I did not give up and won five gold medals,” she added.
She was also confident of winning her sixth gold in 100m relay. “I want to represent Pakistan in the SAG,” she added. Another female athlete Maria Maratab from Army claimed more than one gold medal in the ongoing Games. Maria clinched three gold and a bronze medals.
She won her first gold in the triple jump by covering a distance of 12.25m, which was a new record in the Games. In the 200m men’s race Uzair Rehman from Army created a new national record. He broke 19-year old record of Muhammad Maqsood of 21.15 seconds with 21.06 seconds.
Army’s Rabia Ashaq got gold medal in the 1500m race. In the 200m heptathlon, Maria Maratab clinched gold medal. Army grabbed 14 gold, 16 silver and 17 bronze medals at the end of the third day athletic event, followed by Wapda with 19 gold, 16 silver and nine bronze. HEC stood third with one gold, one silver and one bronze.
Syed Kosar Naqvi adds from Abbottabad: Army, Wapda, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Railways qualified for the semi-finals of the 33rd National Games in the women’s rugby event at Kunj Football Ground.
Wapda dominated the first day proceedings by winning all the first day fixtures with comfortable margins against Sindh 58-0, Baluchistan 49-0 and KP 49-0 while Army lead Group A by defeating Punjab 30-0, Railways 27-0.
Wapda won the first position in women’s weight-lifting winning 4 gold and 2 bronze medals followed by Army with 7 sliver while Railways stood third with 4 gold and 2 bronze.
Army also maintained supremacy in taekwondo by clinching 12 gold medals, while Wapda with 3 gold, 8 silver and 3 bronze remained second and PAF grabbed 3 silver and 9 bronze to catch third position.