Weightlifter Nooh Butt wins silver medal in Tashkent

KARACHI: Pakistan’s prolific weightlifter Nooh Dastagir Butt created history when he won a silver medal in the World Championship in Tashkent on Friday.

Nooh, who was not in contention for the Tokyo Olympics slot due to fitness issues, did a fabulous job by claiming silver in the plus 109 kg competition total. He lifted a total weight of 390 kg, which included 165 kg in snatch and 225 kg in clean and jerk.

This is the second medal from Pakistan in the event. The other day Talha Talib had claimed bronze in snatch in 67kg. Abu Bakar Ghani had finished 13th in 61kg while Hanzala Dastagir had finished 17th in 109kg.

A senior official of Pakistan Weightlifting Federation (PWLF) Amjad Amin Butt said that the Commonwealth Rankings will also be prepared on the basis of the global event results and it will be seen how many of their weightlifters would qualify for the next year’s Commonwealth Games which will be held in Birmingham from July 28 to August 8.

“I am hopeful that all of our four weightlifters who featured in the Tashkent global event will be able to earn the Commonwealth Games tickets,” Butt said.