KARACHI: Japan-based Shah Hussain and Fauzia Mumtaz grabbed gold medals in judo competitions on Tuesday as Pakistan finished the journey of the 12th South Asian Games with 12 gold, 37 silver and 57 bronze medals.
In the 12-day biennial spectacle held in the Indian cities of Guwahati and Shillong, Pakistan failed to retain their second spot, ending third, behind hosts India (188 gold) and much-improved Sri Lanka, who clinched 25 gold, 63 silver and 98 bronze medals.
On the last day, Shah Hussain, who is also fighting for an Olympic spot, won gold in the -100 kilogramme weight category.
Fauzia clinched gold medal in the -78kg category. Humaira Ashiq and Beenish Khan claimed silver medals.
Those who picked bronze medals were Iran Shehzadi, Shumaila Gul, Ambreen Masih, Mudassir Ali, Babar Hussain, Imtiaz Hussain, Qaisar Khan and Afzal Bashir.
Pakistan ended second in judo competitions.
Pakistan Judo Federation’s (PJF) secretary Masood Ahmed was satisfied with the performances.
“All the players gave their best and I am very happy. In future the players will do much better,” Masood said.
Iranian coach Sajjad Kazmi had trained the judokas for the competitions.
Nepal won the men’s football event gold, beating hosts India 2-1. Bangladesh secured bronze, beating Maldives 7-6 in penalty shoot-out.
In the eight-nation games, competitions were held in 23 disciplines, 16 in Guwahati and seven in Shillong.
Meanwhile, Pakistan Swimming Federation (PSF) said that national swimmers bettered eight national records in the event. Pakistani swimmers won one gold, two silver and five bronze medals.
Dubai-based Lianna Swan clinched the only swimming gold for the country. She became the first Pakistani woman swimmer to win gold in the history of the South Asian Games.
Pakistan Olympic Association’s (POA) vice-president S M Sibtain said that Pakistan’s performance was not satisfactory. “Pakistan’s performance was not good, but it was expected. We were lucky to win gold in hockey. The hockey authorities were not expecting that,” Sibtain said.
“It’s time to have a comprehensive sports development programme. There is a need for a national institute at the centre. Ad-hocism should now end. The government should also have a role in the sports revival,” said Sibtain, also the president of Pakistan Table Tennis Federation (PTTF).
“After Sri Lanka wiped out terrorism, it implemented a sports development plan, which has worked really well for them,” Sibtain said.
This correspondent also tried to contact the POA president Lt Gen (retd) Arif Hasan and secretary Khalid Mehmood but they were not available for comments.
Pakistan took three silver and eight bronze in athletics, two gold and four silver in wrestling, five bronze in wushu, four bronze in badminton, four silver and two bronze in boxing, one silver and three bronze in cycling and gold in hockey.
Pakistan grabbed one silver and one bronze in handball, silver in men’s kabaddi, nine silver and four bronze in shooting, one gold, four silver and one bronze in squash, one gold, two silver and five bronze in swimming, one silver and one bronze in table tennis, two gold, one silver and four bronze in taekwondo, four bronze in tennis, bronze in men’s volleyball and one gold, two silver and four bronze in weightlifting.
The next South Asian Games will be hosted by Nepal in Kathmandu in 2019. The event is usually held after every two years, but this time it was held after six years due to different reasons. The previous edition was conducted in Dhaka in 2010.
Medals Table
Country Gold Silver Bronze Total
India 188 90 30 308
Sri Lanka 25 63 98 186
Pakistan 12 37 57 106
Afghanistan 7 9 19 35
Bangladesh 4 15 56 75
Nepal 3 23 34 60
Maldives 0 2 1 3
Bhutan 0 1 15 16