Taekwondo fighters, women squash players get cash awards

KARACHI: In the second phase, Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) on Monday handed cheques to the country’s taekwondo fighters and women squash players who got medals in the 13th South Asian Games in Nepal last year.

As per the cash awards policy of the government the gold medallists were handed over Rs1 million each, the silver medallists got Rs500,000 each and the bronze medallists Rs250,000 each.

In taekwondo Pakistan claimed three gold, six silver and eight bronze.

Muqaddas Ashraf, a squash player and silver medallist, got Rs500,000.

The PSB said that the cheques of squash players Madina Zafar, Faiza Zafar and Amna Fayyaz were handed over to the Pakistan Squash Federation (PSF).

PSF secretary Wing Commander Tahir Sultan and Pakistan Taekwondo Federation (PTF) president Col Wasim Ahmed were also present on the occasion.

While appreciating the performance of taekwondo fighters the IPC Minister Dr Fehmida Mirza said that it was an outstanding effort as the fighters took 17 medals compared to only seven they had got in the previous Games held in India in 2016.

She said that despite limited resources, the federal government was doing all it could to promote sports in the country.

She stressed that after the 18th Amendment it was the responsibility of provinces to allocate maximum budget for sports. The minister urged the corporate sector to supplement the efforts of the government for the promotion of sports. The minister said it was encouraging that people were now supporting their daughters in sports.

The athletes thanked Dr Fehmida Mirza for inviting them and handing them cash awards in this critical period when the COVID-19 pandemic has devastated the entire world.

Meanwhile, the PSB senior official Azam Dar said that in the next phase weightlifting, tennis and volleyball players would get their awards.

Taekwondo fighters who were given cash awards were Haroon Khan (gold), Rab Nawaz (gold), Shahzeb (gold), Mohammad Fahim (silver), Shahbaz Ahmed (silver, bronze), Waqar Ali Shah (silver), Jibran Asad Khan (silver), Mohammad Mumtaz (2 bronze), Mohammad Anas (bronze), Mehmood Khan (bronze), Sidra Batool (silver), Mehrunnisa (silver, 2 bronze), Anila Ayesha Afsar (silver), Naqsh Hamdani (bronze), Asifa Ali (2 bronze), Iqra Zaheer (bronze), Zoya Sabir (bronze), Ayesha Noor (bronze).