ASHGABAT, Turkmenistan: Pakistan on Tuesday won three bronze medals in belt wrestling and one bronze in ju-jitsu to take its overall medal tally to one gold, two silver and nine bronze in the 5th Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games here at the Olympic village.
Till filing of the story, Pakistan were trailing at the 14th place in the spectacle in which 65 nations from Asia and Oceania are featuring in 21 sports disciplines.
In belt wrestling women’s -50 kilogramme freestyle competitions, Maryam won a bronze medal, the first in belt competitions which began on Tuesday here at the wrestling arena.
In the semi-final, Maryam lost to Lacyn Badaglyyewa of Turkmenistan. Earlier, she had defeated Grace Loberanes of Philippines in the quarter-finals.
Beenish Khan clinched bronze in -70kg when she lost her semi-final against Nasiba Surkiyewa of Turkmenistan.She had defeated Mariya Sedunova of Tajikistan in the quarter-finals.
Mohammad Basit joined the medallists chart when he pulled off a bronze in +100kg men’s freestyle. He lost the +100kg men’s freestyle semi-final against Sherzodjon Rakhimov of Uzbekistan.
He had defeated Vechita Khesoh of India in the quarter-finals. Humaira Ashiq lost her first -50 freestyle fight against Hesel Bekiyrwa of Turkmenistan to exit the competitions which will last till September 23.
Ambreen Masih (-55kg) went down to Zarina Abdyramanowa of Turkmenistan in the quarter-finals. Mohammad Shahid exited when he was beaten by Tagantac Guycmammedow of Turkmenistan in the -55kg freestyle quarter-finals.
Shahid had beaten Ali Khalili of Iran in his pre-quarter-final. In the same weight, Saeed Anwar, who had got bronze in traditional wrestling on Monday, fell at the first hurdle when he was undone by Didar Satbayew of Kazakhstan in the quarter-finals.
Mohammad Adnan also failed to add to Pakistan’s medal-tally when he lost to Davood Avaz Zadeh of Iran in -90kg quarter-finals. He had defeated Keduovillie Zumu of India in the pre-quarter-final.
Rana Adnan (-60kg) also fell in the quarter-finals. Shehzad Khan (-65kg), Zunair Bin Zahir (+100 kg), Tayyab Raza (-100kg), Saeed Anwar (-55kg), Mohammad Sharif (-70kg) and Hafeezullah (-80kg) lost their opening fights.
Pakistan ended fifth overall in ju-jitsu competitions after winning another bronze on Tuesday that wrapped-up their illustrious journey with one gold, two silver and four bronze medals.As many as 18 nations featured in the competitions which were topped by hosts Turkmenistan with seven gold, seven silver and five bronze medals.
Thailand got second position with four gold, two silver and six bronze. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) ended third with three gold, four silver and four bronze. Philippines wrapped up their journey at the fourth spot with one gold, two silver and four bronze.
Jahanzeb Rashad Lone finished at the victory podium when he lost his -56kg ne-waza semi-final to Omar Alfadhli of the UAE on Tuesday. Rashad had defeated Tajikistan’s Firdaus Sharipov in the quarter-finals and Kazakhstan’s Kuandyk Konysov in his pre-quarter-final fight.
Iram Kanwal narrowly missed bronze medal in the women’s +70kg ne-waza competitions when she lost her bronze medal fight against Soudesh Kamandani of Iran to finish fifth. She had lost her quarter-final against Aysoltan Gacowowa of Turkmenistan, but got a chance to play in the repechage fight in which her opponent Sharif Hatem Luma of Jordon was disqualified.
Earlier, Amna Rasheed was disqualified in her +70kg quarter-final against Turkmenistan’s Sabina Agajanowa.
Pakistan’s gold came in men’s duo show, silver in men’s duo classic and mixed duo show. Besides Rashad’s bronze which he secured on Tuesday, three bronze were claimed in women’s duo classic, women’s duo show, and mixed duo classic.
Pakistan Ju-Jitsu Federation (PJJF) chief Khalil Ahmed was happy with the achievement of his fighters. “I think we have done very well,” Khalil told ‘The News’. “In the current situation when our players don’t have good facilities and they are unable to get enough exposure, they have done a marvelous job,” Khalil said.
In women’s tennis, Pakistan’s Ushna Sohail lost her first round game of the women’s singles when she went 1-2 down against Chao Yi Wang of Chinese Taipei. Sara Mehboob fell in the first round when she was whacked by Steffi Carruthers of Samoa 1-2.
Pakistan’s Ahmed Chaudhry will face Chun Hun Wong of Hong Kong in men’s singles second round on Wednesday (today).
Heera Ashiq and Ushna Sohail will face Muhammad Fitriadi and Deria Haliza of Indonesia in the mixed doubles first round. In taekwondo, Pakistan’s another fighter fell at the first hurdle when Shah Adil was comprehensively beaten by China’s Jintau Liu 24-0 in the -87 kilogramme pre-quarter-final.
On Monday London-born Isra Ilyas (-46kg) and Mohammad Faheem (-74kg) had fallen at the first hurdles. Mohammad Iqbal, Arsalan Asad Khan, Ehsan Ashraf, Nimra Wasiq and Sophia Nayab Baig are yet to appear in their respective categories.
