Pak karatekas finish with six gold medals at SAG

KARACHI: National karatekas finished their journey with impressive six gold medals after taking two more medals as Pakistan on Wednesday further inflated its gold-tally to 11 on the fourth day of the 13th South Asian Games in Kathmandu, Nepal.

Meanwhile, sprinter Uzair-ur-Rehman, wushu fighter Amjad Ali also won gold medals for the country. Till filing of this report, Pakistan had claimed 11 gold, 17 silvers and 25 bronze medals.

In karate, Pakistan’s highly talented fighter Nouman Ahmed lifted gold in minus 50 kilogramme weight category. Pakistan’s women’s karate kumite team, featuring Nargis, Kulsoom, Sana Kausar and Sabira, claimed gold, which was the sixth gold of the karate squad.

Nargis, who had lifted bronze in the last year’s Asian Games, finished with a silver medal in the plus 68kg karate competition.

Overall karate squad finished its journey with six gold, eight silvers and five bronze medals. A senior official of Pakistan Karate Federation (PKF) Mohammad Jehangir told ‘The News’ from Kathmandu on Wednesday that only one male and two female fighters could not manage gold.

“Every one in the rest of the lot was among gold medals,” Jehangir said. In 2004 SAG in Islamabad, Pakistan had claimed seven gold, two silver and one bronze in karate.

Karate squad will return home on Thursday (today). On Friday (tomorrow), the squad will be extended reception at the PSB Coaching Centre in Lahore.

As per other details, highly talented sprinter Uzair-ur-Rehman got the first gold in athletics in 200m with a timing of 21.15 seconds.

Olympian Najma Parveen claimed silver in 200m by clocking 23.69 seconds. Sham-ul-Haq got bronze in discus throw.

Samiullah had won 100m bronze on Tuesday. So far Pakistan have claimed one gold, one silver and two bronze in athletics.

In wushu, emerging Amjad Ali claimed gold in sando event minus 85kg. Similarly, other wushu fighters Fatima (minus 52kg), Abdul Khaliq (minus 56kg), Saddam (minus 65kg) and Dawood Shahid (tao lou nan quan) got bronze medals.

Six wushu fighters including Sajid (minus 80kg), Maaz Khan (minus 75kg), Shahzeb (minus 70kg), Farhan (minus 52kg), Sundas (minus 65kg) and Maira (minus 60kg) on Wednesday reached finals.

“We expect a couple of sure gold,” a senior official of Pakistan Wushu Federation (PWF) Malik Iftikhar told ‘The News’ from Kathmandu.

The finals will be held on Thursday (today).

In taekwondo, Pakistan took two more silvers and two bronze medals, taking its tally in the discipline to one gold, five silvers and seven bronze.

Syed Waqar Shah (87kg) and Aneela (53kg) took silver, while Mehmood (minus 63kg) and Soyia Sabir (minus 62kg) got bronze medals.

In shooting, Pakistan claimed two more bronze, taking its overall tally in the discipline to two gold and four bronze.

In the individual category, Rabia Kabir claimed bronze medal, while Mehwish, Lubna, and Rabia won bronze in the team category of the event.

In kabaddi, Pakistan was upset by Sri Lanka 29-27 in their opening game, an official of Pakistan Olympic Association (POA) told this correspondent.

Meanwhile, Pakistan bagged silver as they defeated Sri Lanka and Bhutan before losing to India 0-2 in the final of the tennis team event. The women’s team won bronze after they were beaten by Sri Lanka in a hard-fought battle. Mahin Aftab was defeated by Anika Seneviratne 4-6, 4-6 and Ushna Sohail lost to Anjalika Kurera 4-6, 6-2, 4-6.

In the individual category of men’s squash event, Pakistan’s Tayyab Aslam will be top seed, while Farhan Mehboob will be seeded second.