Inter-Provincial Games: Punjab grab 35 medals during first two days

LAHORE: Punjab contingent stole the show and grabbed 35 medals during the first two days of 4th Inter-Provincial Games in Peshawar.

According to information made available here on Monday, Punjab’s weightlifting team showed brilliant performance on Monday and clinched all the four gold medals on the second day on Monday. Sharjeel Butt got gold medal in 56kg category, Abdul Hannan in 62kg, Asjad Jameel in 69kg and Arslan Hanif in 77kg. Punjab wrestling team also showed their prowess and took 4 gold medals. Tug-of-War team clinched solitary gold while Punjab volleyball team also bagged a silver medal.

Earlier, on the opening day of 4th Inter-Provincial Games, Punjab contingent won 24 medals including 19 gold on Sunday.Punjab’s men’s rowing and women wushu teams stamped their superiority very early in the grand event winning 7 and 5 gold medals respectively. Punjab ju-jitsu athletes also got seven gold medals. Punjab players also captured 4 silver medals and one bronze on the opening day. In ju-jitsu contest, Ghulam Majeed, Umer Mukhtar and Ahmed Ali took gold medals in 56kg, 69kg and 77kg class competitions respectively while Mohsin Ali secured bronze in 62kg category.

APP adds: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) men staged a clean sweep in bodybuilding and women squash events as Sindh dominated in swimming, winning 10 gold and eight silver medals on the second day of the Inter-Provincial Games.

In the bodybuilding event played at under the open sky at PSB Sports Arena with thousands of spectators turned up to witness the musclemen showcase their muscles and received thundering applauses.

Lt-Gen (retd) Arif Hassan was the chief guest on this occasion who gave away medals in the individual weight categories. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa recorded 90 points after winning all nine weight categories, Punjab with 45 points, winning five silver medal and two bronze medals.

Balochistan secured one silver and three bronze medals with 22 points, Islamabad with one silver and two bronze medals registered 17 points, Sindh with two silver medal got 14 points and FATA got 10 points with two bronze medals.

In the 55kg weight Wali Muhammad of KP won gold medal, followed by Rehan of Sindh and Muhammad Rafique. In the 60kg weight Sami UIlah of KP won gold medal, followed by Muhammad Muzamil Ali of Sindh and Muhammad Asad of Balochistan, in the 65kg weight Zain Ul Abideen got gold medal, followed by Noor Muhammad of Islamabad and Hassan of Punjab, in the 70kg weight Shaharyar of KP won gold medal, followed by Amir Hamza of Punjab and Inzimamul Haq of Islamabad.

In the 75kg weight Junaid Khan of KP won gold medal, followed by Muhammad Amir of Punjab and Waqar of Islamabad, in 80kg weight Qazi Haseeb of KP won gold medal, followed by Shamruz Asghar of Punjab and Zubair Ahmad, in 85kg weight Momin of KP won gold medal, followed by Asghar Ali of Punjab and Noor Ahmad of FATA, in 90kg weight M Akhtar won gold medal, followed by Saeed Ahmad of Balochistan and Shafi Ullah of FATA and in 90+kg weight M Ishfaq won gold medal, followed by Kashan Malik of Punjab and Muhammad Saddique. In the women squash, Pakistan U-19 No 1 Komal Khan claimed doubled gold medal as she defeated Punjab’s Aiman Shahbaz in the final by 3-1. The final was played on hard note as both Komal and Aiman Shahbaz gave each other a tough fight but Komal after losing the first set at 8-11, came back strongly by winning three consecutive sets at 11-9, 12-10 and 11-9. In the individual category Noor-ul-Ain defeated Laiba Ijaz by 3-1, the score was 10-12, 11-9, 12-10 and 11-9. Both Noor-ul-Ain and Laiba played well against each other. Komal along with Laiba Ijaz and Nimra Aqeel won the Team gold medal after defeating Punjab team by 2-1, thus recording double goal medal in the games. In the Volleyball Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab took berth into the final. KP defeated AJK in the first semi-final by 25-15, 25-18 25-12 and in the second semi-final Punjab beat FATA by 25-23, 25-18, 25-19. The final and 3rd position will be played on Tuesday. In the swimming, Sindh claimed all gold medals on the second day of the three-day event.