Punjab bag National Boys Swimming crown

LAHORE: Punjab swimmers stole the show when they won the 24th National Boys Age Group Swimming Championship at Punjab International Swimming Complex on Sunday.

Overall Punjab swimmers accumulated 1017 points and 21 gold medals. Sindh finished the championship as runners-up with 962 points and 23 gold medals followed by Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) with 293 points and two gold medals.

Several young swimmers broke some half dozen national records during the 3-day grand event.

KPK swimmer Ahmed Durrani exhibited magnificent performance during the championship. He broke U-14 100m backstroke national record with the time of 1.09.76. In 200m backstroke, Ahmed Durrani achieved gold medal by covering his distance in 2.37.17. In 200m, he clinched silver medal with the time of 2.33.87.

Punjab’s Daniyal Ghulam Nabi, Asfandyar Sherdil, Sindh’s Ali Mitha and Zeeshan Abbas also excelled on the last day and established new national records in their respective age group categories. Shaan Lashari, President Punjab Swimming Association was the chief guest at the closing ceremony.

Azam Latif Qureshi, Secretary Punjab Swimming Association, Babar Kamil, Director Sports FCC University, top swimming official Hafiz Bhatti and former swimmer Qaiser Zulfiqar Khan were also present on this occasion. The 3-day 24th National Boys Age Group Swimming Championship was organised under the auspices of Punjab Swimming Association and with the collaboration of Sports Board Punjab (SBP).

DG Sports Punjab Adnan Arshad Aulakh has greeted the Punjab swimming team for winning coveted title. He also congratulated young swimmers from Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and other teams for their wonderful performances during the 3-day 24th National Boys Age Group Swimming Championship. He said that talented swimmers from all parts of the country took part in the championship which is quite encouraging.

Following are the results: 50m butterfly U-16: 1. Feroz Kh (Pjb), 2. Zain Younis (Pjb), 3. Taha Hashmi (Sindh)

50m backstroke U-14: 1. Asfandyar Sherdil (32.13 NR) (Pjb), 2. Ahmed Durrani (KP), Saif Khurram (Sindh)

50m backstroke U-12: 1. Ali Mitha (33.13 NR) (Sindh), 2. Daniyal Alvi (Sindh), 3. Suleman Babar (Pjb)

100m breaststroke U-16: 1. Zeeshan Abbas (1.15:51 NR) (Sindh), 2. Zain Younis (Pjb), 3. Saif Baig (Sindh)

50m freestyle U-14: 1. Daniyal Ghulam Nabi (27.24 NR) (Pjb), 2. Ibraheem Rasheed (Pjb), 3. Ryaan Adnan Ali (Sindh).

50m breaststroke U-14: 1. Daniyal Ghulam Nabi (33.29 NR) (Pjb), 2. Rayan Maqbool (Sindh), 3. Faiz Iqbal (Sindh). * NR denotes new record.