KARACHI: Pakistan’s Arshad Nadeem won bronze medal in javelin throw in Asian Games on Monday.
Arshad, from Khanewal, recorded 80.75m, improving on his Commonwealth Games performance of 80.45m. This is also Pakistan’s new national record. Arshad managed to record 80.75m in his fourth attempt but failed to improve it in the next two attempts.
In boxing, Naqeebullah reached the quarter-finals of in men’s 56kg category by beating Nima Dorija of Bhutan 3-2 in the pre-quarter-finals. Naqeeb was the unanimous winner in the first round. In the second round, three judges gave the decision against him. But in the final round he got the favour of three judges, which sealed his win.
He will now face China’s Xu Boxiang in the quarter-finals on Wednesday (tomorrow). He defeated the United Arab Emirates’ Majid Alnaqbi in the first round. Suleman Baloch lost 0-5 to Hyunsuk Lim of Korea in the pre-quarter-finals of Light Welter (64kg) category.
Tanveer Ahmed was beaten by Krishan Vikas of India 5-0 in the pre-quarter-finals of Middle (75kg) category. In squash, fourth seeds Pakistan defeated eighth seeds Japan 2-1 in the first group match of men’s team event.
Asim Khan lost to Ryunosuke Tsukue 12-14, 7-11, 2-11 in 36 minutes; Tayyab Aslam beat Tomotaka Endo 11-6, 11-6, 12-10 in 46 minutes; and Israr Ahmed defeated Ryosei Kobayashi 11-4, 11-3, 11-7 in 22 minutes.
In the second group match, Pakistan won against Nepal 3-0. Asim thrashed Magar Amrit Thapa 11-2, 11-2, 11-2; Israr defeated Arhant Keshar Simha 11-5, 11-2, 11-4; and Ammad Fareed won against Gyanu Chaudhary 11-2, 11-4, 11-1.
Pakistan will play against the Philippines on Tuesday (today) and will face top seed Hong Kong on Wednesday. Pakistan will be up against Korea on Thursday. In women’s category, top seed Malaysia beat ninth seed Pakistan 3-0 in a group match. Nicol David smashed Madina Zafar 11-4, 11-3, 11-6 in 18 minutes; Low Wee Wern thrashed Faiza Zafar 11-3, 11-3, 11-4 in 19 minutes; and Aifa Azman beat Riffat Khan 11-2, 11-2, 11-9 in 18 minutes.
In another group match, fifth seeds Korea beat Pakistan 3-0. Yura Choe beat Madina 11-9, 11-2, 11-6; Euuntschan Ahn defeated Faiza 11-5, 11-5, 11-4; and Jihyun Lee won against Riffat 11-8, 11-6, 11-4.
Pakistan will face fourth seeds Japan on Tuesday and will be up against eighth seeds Philippines on Thursday.In weightlifting 105kg event, Nooh Dastagir Butt lifted 170 kg in snatch and 235kg in clean and jerk to make a total of 405kg, which gave him the fifth position.
Though he failed to win the medal, he made three national records in the said categories. He also bettered his record of lifting 228kg in clean and jerk he made at World Junior Championship.
In athletics, Rabia Aashiq stood fifth with a timing of 2:22.56 minutes in the qualification round of women’s 800 metre race. In sepak-takraw, the Philippines defeated Pakistan 2-0 in a group match. In baseball, Pakistan beat Thailand 8-1 in a group match.With three bronze medals, Pakistan stand 33rd.
