Pakistan win gold in karate, taekwondo, shooting

KARACHI: Pakistan on Tuesday extended their gold medal tally to six in the 13th South Asian Games being held in Nepal.

By the time this report was written, Pakistan had also won 11 silver and 15 bronze medals. The country’s premier karateka Saadi Abbas and taekwondo fighter Shahzeb won titles, while two gold medals were achieved in shooting.

Saadi, a former Asian gold medallist, clinched gold in the 75 kilogramme weight category. “There was some pressure as at this stage referees are not that experienced,” Saadi told ‘The News’ from Kathmandu. “But thanks God things went well. I won the first fight 7-0 and the second 8-0 to win gold,” he added.

He said Pakistani fighters faced problems in expressing themselves. “Due to the short training camp, the fighters had to face problems. The big issue you know was that the state at the eleventh hour gave green signal. When players are mentally ready and they know that they will feature in an event then they prepare accordingly but how can fighters prepare in an uncertain environment?” the two-time Commonwealth Championships gold medallist said.

However, he was quick to add that overall Pakistan’s performance in karate was good. “We have got three gold medals. We were expecting four but four events are yet to be held tomorrow and we can achieve the target,” Lyari-born Saadi said.

Pakistan also added four silver and one bronze to their tally in karate. Zafar Iqbal picked silver in 60kg, Naseer Ahmed in 67 kg, Sana Kausar in 55kg and Kulsoom in 68kg. The bronze was snared by Naz Gul in 61kg.

On Wednesday (today), karatekas will fight for four more gold medals. The 2018 Asian Games bronze medallist Nargis Hazara is expected to win gold in plus 68kg; Nouman will be fighting for gold in minus 50kg. Pakistan will also be fighting for gold in men’s and women’s team kumite. “So far the performance hasn’t been bad,” Pakistan Karate Federation (PKF) chairman Mohammad Jehangir told ‘The News’ from Kathmandu.

Meanwhile, in taekwondo, Shahzeb snared gold in minus 54 kilogramme. In 46kg, Sidra Batool claimed silver. In 68kg, Mohammad Faheem picked silver. So far Pakistan has taken one gold, three silvers and five bronze in taekwondo. Pakistan will fight for gold in five fights on Wednesday (today) and four on Thursday (tomorrow).

In 100m, Samiullah won bronze medal. In shooting, Pakistan got two gold and two bronze. In 3-Position 50 M Rifle Men Team event, Pakistan, featuring Ghufran Adil, Aqib Latif and Zeeshan Shakir, got gold. The other team gold came in Centre Fire Pistol. The team comprised Khalil Akhtar, Ghulam Mustafa Bashir and Maqbool. Khalil and Ghufran Adil (3x-position rifle) won bronze in individual categories.