Army leave Wapda behind in rowing event

ISLAMABAD: Army edged out Wapda to win the rowing event of the 33rd National Games at the Rawal Lake in Islamabad.

Army bagged 13 gold, 12 silver and two bronze medals to emerge as rowing champions. Army, which is virtually dominating in majority of the events, was closely followed by Wapda with nine gold, six silver and ten bronze. Railways stood third in the rowing competitions with three gold, three silver and 15 bronze medals.

Navy has to content for four gold and four silver, finishing fourth in the process.

In judo competition that is under way in Abbottabad, Army has clear edge over Wapda, winning five gold and one bronze. Wapda has so far won one gold, two silver and two bronze medals.

Army took gold in women softball with Wapda finishing second and KP third. Army also landed gold in women baseball leaving Wapda for silver and HEC for bronze. Army is also leading in taekwondo event that is under way in Abbottabad too. Army so far has won 14 gold three silver and four bronze medals in taekwondo event. Wapda earned six gold medals in taekwondo. Wapda also won eight silver and four bronze medals.

Meanwhile, top seeded Murad Ali (KP), Awais Zahid (Wapda), Muqeet Tahir (HEC) and Irfan Saeed (Wapda) have qualified for semi-finals of men’s badminton event. In the women’s singles, top seed Mahoor Shahzad (Wapda), Sehra Akram (Wapda), Zubaira Islam (Army) and Amal Munib (Punjab) have reached semi-finals.

Irfan Saeed and Azeem Sarwar (Wapda), Awais Zahid and Muhammad Attique (Wapda), Kashif Sulehri and Raja Muhammad Hasnain (Punjab) and Raja Zulqarnain Haider and Anjum Bashir (Punjab) have entered men’s doubles badminton semi-finals.

In the women’s doubles, Mahoor Shahzad and Bushra Qayum (Wapda), Sehra Akram and Huma Javed (Wapda), Zubaira Islam and Warda Gohar (Army), Amal Munib and Laiba Masoud (Punjab) have qualified for the semi-finals.

Ali Larosh and Ghazala Siddique (Wapda), Azeem Sarwar and Saima Waqas (Wapda), Fazalur Rehman and Bakhtawar (Railway) and Raja Zulqarnain Haider and Amal Munib (Punjab) stormed into mixed doubles semi-finals.

Army continued to dominate the National Games with an overall medals tally of 296 that include 123 gold, 103 silver and 70 bronze medals (till filing of this report). Wadpa are second with 93 gold, 74 silver and 54 bronze medals.

Our correspondents add from Peshawar: Karateka Murad Khan on Thursday won first gold medal for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in the 33rd National Games.

The karate gold medal was won in 55kg category. Murad crushed Army’s Daud Khan 8-0 in the final.

Syed Hashim Rizvi of Gilgit-Baltistan and Humayun of Railways bagged silver and bronze medals respectively.

Director General Sports Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Asfandyar Khattak was the chief guest on the occasion and announced Rs200,000 cash award and a one-year monthly stipend of Rs30,000 for Murad.

Asfandyar also announced Rs10,000 monthly stipends for KP’s Saifullah and Muhammad Haris. Saifullah won silver medal in individual in 50kg karate while Haris clinched silver in the team event.

Meanwhile, Wapda and Railways stormed into the final of tug of war in Peshawar.

Wapda defeated Army 2-0 in the first semi-final while Railways outperformed Punjab 2-0. The final of the event will be played on Saturday.

In men’s volleyball, Wapda, Army, PAF and Navy qualified for the semi-finals while Army, Police, HEC and Wapda reached semi-finals of the women’s volleyball event.

Meanwhile, Pakistan’s top seeds comfortably qualified for the finals in their respective weight categories of the boxing competitions at the Lala Aman Boxing Gymnasium.

The country’s leading fighter Syed Mohammad Asif, Naqeebullah, Niamatullah and Suleman of Army blasted their way into the finals with an enviable ease.

Results: 49kg semi-finals: Mohammad Daud Khan (Navy) bt Zohaib Rashid (Sindh) 4-1; Jehanzeb (Wapda) bt Zakir Hussain (Balochistan) 4-1.

52kg semi-finals: Attaullah (Wapda) bt Abdul Wali (HEC) 3-2; Syed Mohammad Asif (Army) bt Noor Ali (Railways).

56kg semi-finals: Naqeebullah (Wapda) bt Ilyas (Balochistan) 3-2; Niamatullah (PAF) bt Aurangzeb (Navy).