October 20, 2003	Monday	Sha'aban 23, 1424

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RAWALPINDI, Oct 19: Naseer Ahmed bettered his own marathon record and Sumera Zahoor broke the women’s 5000m mark on Sunday that saw Army having one hand on the National Athletics Championship trophy.

A havaldar in the Army, Naseer took the marathon gold in a time of 2:14:11 sec to improve upon his time of 2:21:15 that he clocked last year.

Another Army runner Muhammad Aslam clinched the silver in 2:24:32 while Niaz Ahmed Farooqi of Railways claimed the bronze. Sumera of POF shattered the record of 19:21 sec that was set by Wapda’s Shazia Hidyat, clocking 19:18.6 sec in a race in which her team-mate Sajida Ramzan was second in 19:37.0. Interestingly Shazia could manage only a bronze and was timed in 19:41.9 sec.

Army continued to amass points and by the end of third day’s events had a runaway total of 168, their athletes winning five golds for the day. Wapda stood on 100, winning the 400m, discus throw, 800m and 4x400 relay finals.

In the women’s competitions, Wapda stayed ahead with 98 points followed closely by POF who had 91 and Railways were third at 63 points.

In the men’s championship, there was stopping the Army athletes. Havladar Muhammad Zaman collected 6487 points to land the decathlon gold with the silver going to his team-mate Muhammad Irfan who had 5878 points. Punjab’s Shahzad Ahmed was third, totalling 5276 for the bronze medal.

L/Havaldar Ahmed Bilal added to Army’s gold tally clearing 1.96m to take the top honours in the high jump final which was again a one-two finish for his side, Amjad Farooq annexing the silver and Wapda’s Tariq Ali Gujjar picking the bronze.

Noushad Khan streaked to gold in the 10000m final clocking 31:04.3 to give another title to Army with Navy’s Waris Masih home in 31:27.1 to take bronze.

Zafar Iqbal then wound up what was indeed a profitable day for the Army going 15.68m to strike gold in the triple jump final in which his compatriot Waseem Khan was second with a leap of 15.54m. Ghulam Dastghir of Wapda finished third.

It was a particularly fruitful day for Wapda, who had no gold going into Sunday’s competitions. But by the close of events, their athletes had collected four golds.

The first crown for them came in the 400m, Muhammad Sajjad capturing the gold in 47.1 sec leaving his mate Rana Saghir and Navy’s Abdul Majeed in a silver and bronze finish.

In the 800m, Inam Ali Shah was first across the line with a time of 1:51.5 while Army’s Zulfiqar Ali took the bronze and another Wapda runner Irshad Fazal was third.

The 4x400 relay title also went to Wapda their team finishing 5-# in 3:14.1 and Imran Ali Mirza starring in the discus throw hurling it 50.74m. The silver and bronze were won by M. Javed and Azhar Saleem, both of Army.

The POF women, apart from the record-breaking Sumera, bagged gold medals in the 400m where Bushra Parveen clocked 58.4 and the 4x400m relay in which their side timed 3:58.5.

Uzma Rani of Railways was the winner of the heptathlon gold accumulating 3531 points with Erum Khanum of Police and Wapda’s Nasreen earning the silver and bronze respectively.

Results (men):

Marathon: Naseer Ahmed (Army) 2::14:11 (NR), Muhammad Aslam (Army) 2::24:32, Niaz Ahmed Farooqi (Railways) 2::31:44

Decathlon: Muhammad Zaman (Army) 6487, Muhammad Irfan (Army) 5878, Shahzad Ahmed (Punjab) 5276

400m final: M. Sajjad (Wapda) 47.1, Rana Saghir (Wapda) 48.4, Abdul Majeed (Navy) 48.7

High jump final: Ahmed Bilal (Army) 1.96m, Amjad Farooq (Army) 1.96, Tariq Ali Gujjar (Wapda) 1.93

Discus throw final: Imran Ali Mirza (Wapda) 50.74, M. Javed (Army) 50.62, Azhar Saleem (Army) 49.88

10000m final: Noushad Khan (Army) 31:04.3, Waris Masih (Navy) 31:27.1, Muhammad Shahid (Army) 31:42.3

800m final: Inaam Ali Shah (Wapda) 1:51.5, Zulfiqar Ali (Army) 1:52.2, Irshad Fazal (Wapda) 1:52.3

4x400 relay final: Wapda 3:14.1, Army 3:14.2, Railways 3:16.4 Triple jump final: Zafar Iqbal (Army) 15.68, Waseem Khan (Army) 15.54, Ghulam Dastghir (Wapda) 14.56.

Women: Heptathlon: Uzma Rani (Railways) 3531, Erum Khanum (Police) 3470, Nasreen (Wapda) 3029

5000m final: Sumera Zahoor (POF) 19:18.6 (NR), Sajida Ramzan (POF) 19:37.0, Shazia Hidyat (Wapda) 19:41.9

400m final: Bushra Parveen (POF) 58.4, Gulnaz Ara (Wapda) 58.7, Shugfta Parveen (Wapda) 62.1

4x400 relay: POF 3:58.5, Wapda 4:03.3, Railways 4:25.9 Medals and points table at the end of third day: (read as gold, silver, bronze, points)

Army 11-13-4-168, Wapda 4-3-6-100, Railways 0-0-3-30

Women Wapda 4-5-7-98, POF 6-6-4-91, Railways 3-0-2-63