Army, Wapda dominate judo championship

PESHAWAR: Pakistan Army and Wapda on Sunday dominated the ongoing 27th Men and 10th Women National Ranking Judo Championship at Lala Rafique Sports Arena in Peshawar Sports Complex.

Pakistan Army players won the first position in six different weight categories and cemented their position for the medals.

A total of 14 teams from all over Pakistan are participating in the championship, including Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan, Islamabad, merged areas (KP-A), Gilgit Baltistan, HEC, Pakistan Army, Wapda, Pakistan Navy, and Police.

Olympian Shah Hussain, who is also Asian Bronze Medalist, Commonwealth Silver Medalist, South Asian Triple Gold Medalists, successfully defended his title. Shah Hussain won the first position in the 110kg category. In the 110kg event, Hamid Ali of Pakistan Navy came second, Sabir Ali of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Yusuf Riaz of Punjab came third.

In the Men’s 66kg category, Muhammad Hussain took a gold medal, Naseeb Khan of Balochistan took a silver medal while Salman Khan of Punjab and Muhammad Omar of Pak Navy bagged bronze medals.

Ali Akbar of Pak Army won the 55kg gold. Talha Khan of HEC was second. Omar of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and M Sadiq of WAPDA were third in the same category.

Sabir Hussain of the Pakistan Army was the winner in the last category of 50kg. Noor Khan of Balochistan was second while Adnan of Pakistan Railways and Mogan of Punjab were third.

In the women 70kg category, Benish of Wapda won the gold medal, Amna of Punjab got the silver medal while both Khatijah of KP and Fazilaat of Pakistan Navy grabbed the bronze medals. Manahil Iftikhar of the Army won the 48kg gold. Punjab’s Anam Anwar was second and HEC’s Aqsa Ahmed and KP’s Mohsina were third.

In the 44kg weight, Irum Shehzadi of Pakistan Army won the gold medal, Mashal of Punjab got the silver medal, Asifa Noor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, who also stunned a top-ranking player from Pakistan Wapda, got a bronze medal while Nida, also from KP, won a bronze medal in the same category.

In the 40kg women category, Kausar Iqbal of Wapda won the gold medal, followed by Nayyab of HEC with the silver medal and Shakina of Balochistan and Sana Noor of Punjab won bronze medals.