Army claim swimming trophies

KARACHI: Army won both men’s and women’s trophies of the swimming event of the 34th National Games at the Punjab International Swimming Complex Lahore on Sunday. Olympian Haseeb Tariq of Army was declared the best male swimmer with five golds which also included three new national records. Olympian Bisma Khan of Army was adjudged the best female swimmer with five individual golds and three relay golds.

In the men’s section, Army reigned supreme as they finished at the summit with 17 gold, 12 silver and four bronze. WAPDA ended as runners-up with two gold, three silver and four bronze. Punjab ended third with one gold, one silver and seven bronze, Sindh finished fourth with four silver and one bronze and HEC ended at the fifth spot with four bronze medals. In the women’s section, Army lifted the trophy with 16 gold, seven silver and three bronze medals. Sindh, with four gold, five silver and five bronze, finished as runners-up and Navy with three silver and six bronze, ended third.

WAPDA, with three silver and four bronze, finished fourth while HEC, with one bronze, wrapped up their journey at the fifth spot. The men’s 400m freestyle gold went to Amaan Siddiqui of Army who clocked four minutes and 26.12 seconds of time.

Azlan Sohail of Sindh with a time of 4:30.90 claimed silver while Army’s Zeeshan Akbar with a time of 4:31.74 clinched bronze. Olympian Haseeb Tariq captured 50m backstroke gold with a time of 28.36 seconds, Rayan Sadiq Lone of Punjab with a time of 29.91 claimed silver while Yaha Khan of WAPDA got bronze by clocking 29.93.

Army’s Azhar Abbas got the 200m butterfly gold with a time of two minutes and 15.11 seconds, Basit Ali of Army with a time of 2:18.35 got silver while HEC’s Ayan Asif with a time of 2:38.06 claimed bronze.

The 100m breaststroke gold went to WAPDA’s Daniyal Ghulam Nabi with a time of one minute and 12.27 seconds, Army’s Nouman Hussain claimed silver with a time of 1:12.40 and Army’s Adnan Ali captured bronze by cocking 1:13.59.

The 200m Individual Medley gold was won by UAE-based Ahmad Durrani with a time of two minutes and 16.67 seconds. Sindh’s Azlan Sohail got silver with a time of 2:19.99 and Mohid Sadiq Lone of Punjab with a time of 2:20.69 claimed bronze.

Army captured the 4x100m freestyle relay gold with a time of three minutes and 41.12 seconds which is also a new national record. WAPDA picked silver with a time of 3:57.61 and HEC with a time of 4:02.69 claimed bronze.

In the women’s 400m freestyle, Bisma Khan of Army took gold with a time of five minutes and 9.17 seconds. Meher Maqbool of Sindh took silver with a time of 5:24.47. Army’s Fatima Salman got bronze with a time of 5:59.81.

In the 50-metre backstroke, Army’s Fatima Lotia got gold with a time of 35.02 seconds, former Olympian Kiran Khan finished with a silver by clocking 36.53 while Haya Tabish Bari of Navy with a time of 37.69 got bronze.

The 200m butterfly gold went to Ameena Ameer Qadri of Army who clocked three minutes and 14.29 seconds. Navy’s Daniya Bhatia claimed silver with a time of 3:17.89 while Mina Riaz of Sindh with a time of 3:47.66 claimed bronze.

In the 100m breaststroke, Hareem Malik of Sindh got gold with a time of 1:23.21, Aizah Durrani of Army captured silver with a time of 1:31.10 and Maya Saida Lone of WAPDA claimed bronze with a time of 1:32.71.

Table Tennis: Army defeated WAPDA 3-1 to also lift the men’s team event title of the table tennis competitions. Shah Khan of Army defeated Hamza Malik of WAPDA 3-1, with the game score being 11-6, 8-11, 11-8, 11-5. However, former international Asim Qureshi of WAPDA conquered Haseeb 11-8, 11-8, 12-10 to level the score.

Faizan then gifted a 2-1 lead to Army with a hard-earned 3-2 win against former national champion and international player Bilal Yasin. The set score remained 11-8, 8-11, 11-8, 4-11, 11-4. Shah Khan then defeated Asim Qureshi 3-2 to seal a fine title win for Army.

The game score was 9-11, 11-5, 10-12, 11-9, 12-10.

Medal standings: With the Games’ events to finish on Monday (today), Army have taken a huge lead and will have to wait for less than two days to claim the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy. Army lead with 177 gold, 117 silver and 52 bronze. WAPDA follow at the second spot with 90 gold, 80 silver and 73 bronze medals. Navy, with 28 gold, 31 silver and 47 bronze, are third. Then follow HEC (8-15-79), PAF (7-22-34), Sindh (4-15-21), KP (4-6-37), Punjab (3-11-46), Railways (3-7-22), Balochistan (2-18-30), Police (1-2-12) and Islamabad (0-0-7).