Arshad Nadeem, Maria Maratab set new national records

PESHAWAR: The country’s premier javelin thrower and Olympics prospect Arshad Nadeem sizzled on the last day of the athletics competitions of the 33rd National Games in which Army finished at the top in men’s events and WAPDA, as usual, won the women’s competitions here at Qayyum Sports Complex main stadium on Thursday, writes Alam Zeb Safi.

Meanwhile, Maria Maratab of Army set a new national record in heptathlon. In men’s section, Army finished with 543 points which they got by virtue of winning 14 gold, 15 silver and seven bronze medals. WAPDA ended as runners-up with 318 points which they secured through eight gold, five silver and nine bronze medals. Pakistan Air Force (PAF), with 89 points, finished third as they claimed one gold, one silver and four bronze medals.

KP claimed one silver and two bronze, Punjab picked one silver, while Sindh and Navy got one bronze each.

In women’s events, WAPDA reigned supreme as they finished as the leaders with 510 points which they claimed by virtue of their 14 gold, 13 silver and three bronze medals. Army finished as the runners-up with 364 points thanks to their six gold, seven silver and 12 bronze medals. Higher Education Commission (HEC) with 90 points finished third with one gold, one silver and two bronze. KP and Punjab secured two bronze each.

Arshad, who recorded his best throw of 81.52 metre in the World Championships in Doha recently, on Thursday set a national record when he recorded an 83.65 metre throw to claim gold for WAPDA in javelin throw.

The 22-year-old Arshad was nursing a shin injury but was seen in his perfect element. His effort has created a hope that he will be able to meet the target of 85 metre throw in the 13th South Asian Games in Nepal next month which will help him qualify for the 2020 Olympics.

Yasir Sultan of KP recorded 75.35m to get silver and Imad of Army picked bronze with a throw of 69.60m.

Maria of Army set a new national record in heptathlon by securing 4,278 points to win gold. She was followed by Army’s Nabila Kausar who got silver with 3,431 points. Milhan Imtiaz of WAPDA with 3,333 points took bronze.

In men’s 1500m, Waqas Akbar of Army claimed gold with a timing of 3:51.90, WAPDA’s Sohail Amir picked silver with 3:52.26 and Army’s Attiq-ur-Rehman got bronze with 3:53.54.

In 110m hurdles, Mohammad Naeem of Army claimed gold with 13.80 seconds, Saddam Hussain of Army with 14.10 seconds picked silver and Mohammad Nawaz of WAPDA claimed bronze with 14.20.

Mohammad Shakeel of Army won hammer throw gold with 65.44 metre, while Habib Ullah of WAPDA (59.19) and Azhar Abbas of WAPDA (59.14) captured silver and bronze medals, respectively.

In 4X400m relay, Army, featuring Mehboob, Nokar, Waqar, and Mazhar, got gold with 3:11.94; WAPDA, carrying Asad-ur-Rehman, Saddam, Sharafat and Umar, clocked 3:15.00 to pick silver; and PAF featuring Ahmed Hasan, Abid, Ameeer and Osama, clocked 3:20.00 to claim bronze.

In hammer throw (women), WAPDA’s Nazia Butt got gold with 40.70, Saira of Army claimed silver with 38.56 and Asma Jabeen of Army clinched bronze with 31.96.

In 4x400m relay (women), WAPDA, carrying Najma, Asra, Rabia and Musarrat Shaheen, claimed gold with a timing of 3:58.27; Army, featuring Anila, Khadija, Rabeel, and Maria Nadeem, claimed silver with 4:05.49; and HEC’s Maryam, Saba Yousuf, Marina, and Esha Imran, clocked 4:18.71 to pick bronze.

WAPDA’s Olympian athlete Najma Parveen and long racer Rabia Ashiq claimed six gold each.