Mehboob Ali, Najma Parveen, Talha Talib, Haider Ali win gold; Pakistan trail at fourth spot

KARACHI: Olympian athletes Mehboob Ali and Najma Parveen and weightlifters Talha Talib and Haider Ali won gold medals on the sixth day of the 13th South Asian Games in Kathmandu on Friday, pushing Pakistan’s gold medal tally to 20.

Till filing of this report, Pakistan had clinched 20 gold, 24 silvers and 33 bronze medals and were fourth behind leaders India (81-59-25), Nepal (41-27-48) and Sri Lanka (23-42-69).

Mehboob and Najma were crowned champions of their respective 400 metre hurdles which took Pakistan’s gold tally in athletics to four as sprinter Uzair (200m) and 110m hurdler Mohammad Naeem had already secured gold medals.

Mehboob defied all the odds to claim gold in 400m hurdles by clocking 50.71 seconds. Najma, who had won silver in 200metre the other day, grabbed the 400m hurdles crown with a timing of one minute and 35 micro-seconds (1:00.35 seconds).

Pakistan also snared bronze in both 4x100m men’s and women’s relays. Samiullah, Mohammad Shahbaz, Uzair Rehman and Mohammad Naeem were part of the men’s relay competition who timed 40.50 seconds. Sahib-e- Asra, Najma Parveen, Aneela Gulzar and Esha Imran were part of the women’s relay and clocked 46.74 seconds.

So far the country’s athletes have claimed four gold, one silver and five bronze medals.

In 5000 metre, Pakistan’s Rabia Ashiq did not finish the race.

In men’s 5000metre final, Pakistan’s Sohail Amir and Nasir Ali finished eighth and ninth, respectively.

In women’s triple jump, Pakistan’s Maria Maratab ended fifth with 12.10metre.

Pakistan opened their weightlifting journey in style as the nation’s top seed and 2018 Gold Coast Commonwealth Games bronze medallist Talha Talib snared gold in 67 kilogramme with a total weight of 292 — 140kg in snatch and 152kg in clean and jerk.

Haider Ali clinched the 81 kg competition gold medal. Abu Sufyan, another talented weightlifter, claimed silver in 73kg.

In men’s fencing epee event, Saeed Uddin Ali won bronze for Pakistan.

Pakistan won silver medal in team category of air pistol women 10-metre with 1678 points, thanks to Mehwish Farhan (554 points), Anna Ibtisam (561 points), and Kishmala Talat (563 points).

Anna also won bronze in 10metre air pistol with 214.9 points.

The Youth Olympics bronze medallist Inayat Ullah (70kg), Abdur Rehman (79kg), Tayyab Reza (97kg) and Zaman Anwar (125kg) will appear in wrestling competitions on Saturday (today).

The country’s premier wrestler Mohammad Inam (92kg), Umair Ahmed (86kg) and Mohammad Bilal (61kg) are the others who will be representing Pakistan in the slots.

Wrestling has been the most productive sport of the country in recent years and national grapplers are expected to pull off most of the gold medals for the country in these Games.

Judo draws will be held on Saturday (today). Four gold medals are expected to be won by Pakistan with Olympian Shah Hussain Shah, who is Asia’s top seed, featuring in the competitions.

Pakistan men’s handball team blasted their way into the semi-finals, crushing Sri Lanka 43-20. Pakistan will face Bangladesh in the pre-final on Saturday (today).

Pakistan women handball team lost to India 24-45 but still managed to make it to the semi-finals. Pakistan will meet Nepal in the pre-final.

In men’s kabaddi, Pakistan suffered their second defeat in three games when they were whipped by India 49-22 in a one-sided game.

In boxing, Syed Mohammad Asif, Naqeebullah, and Gul Zeb qualified for the semi-finals. Heavyweight boxer Mehmood-ul-Hasan made it to semi-final after getting bye.