October 21, 2003	Tuesday	Sha'aban 24, 1424

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RAWALPINDI, Oct 20: Defending champions Army kept their national tthletics title on Monday winning four finals as they finished the four-day championship with 217 points.

On the women’s side, Wapda stayed champions collecting 160.5 points, their athletes capturing four gold medals on the last day of competitions.

Interestingly, the star woman athlete of the day was not from Wapda. It was Railways Parveen Akhtar who created a new javelin throw record going 40.39 to cancel out Shabana Kausar’s mark of 40.21.

Muhammad Imran of Army became the fastest man in the country streaking to gold in the 100m clocking 10.7 sec followed closely by his team-mate Afzal Baig and Wapda’s Basit Munir earned a bronze.

The shot put gold and silver also went to Army, Ashraf Ali hurling the iron to a distance of 16.73 with Muhammad Arshad reaching 16.05.

Again it was a one-two finish for Army in the 1500m final as Atta Miran was home in a time of 3:53.5 with Zulfiqar Ali clocking 4:00.2.

Army relay team also struck gold as they left Wapda behind, going across the finish line in 41.0.

While Army swept four of the five medals that were at stake on the final day, Wapda took the 110m hurdles crown, Muhammad Shah finishing in 13.9 sec followed by Abdul Rashid of Railways (14.2) and Army’s Mumtaz Ahmed, who clocked 14.3 sec.

Saira Fazal gave Wapda a gold in the women’s 100m sprint edging Railways Nasim Hamid and Noshee Parveen of POF with a time of 12.4 sec.

Wapda’s other gold medals came through Balqees Hashmi, who won the pole vault, clearing 2.20m, the hammer throw in which Razia Sultana stood out with a distance of 38.01 and the high jump final that saw Bazgha Ali winning with a leap of 1.50.

Honours in two other finals were achieved by POF athletes, Sumera Zahoor beating the rest in the 1500m in a time of 4:37.8 while the relay team had a time of 49.0 that left Wapda (50.4) in second place with Railways third in 51.3.

Results:

Men 1

00m final: M. Imran (Army) 10.7, Afzal Baig (Army) 10.8, Basit Munir (Wapda) 10.8 Shot put: Ashraf Ali (Army) 16.73, Muhammad Irshad (Army) 16.05, Hafiz Imtiaz (Wapda) 15.38

110m hurdles: Muhammad Shah (Wapda) 13.9, Abdul Rashid (Railways) 14.2, Mumtaz Ahmad (Army) 14.3

1500m: Atta Miran (Army) 3:53.5, Zulfiqar Ali (Army) 4:00.2, Sarfraz Ahmad (Wapda) 4:00.5

4x100m relay: Army 41.0, Wapda 41.3, Railways 41.4

Women

100m: Saira Fazal (Wapda) 12.4, Naseem Hamid (Railways) 12.6, Noshee Parveen (POF) 12.7 1500m: Sumera Zahoor (POF) 4:37.8, Gulnaz Ara (Wapda) 4:38.6, Sajida Ramzan (POF) 4:58.1

High jump: Bazgha Ali (Wapda) 1.50, Rozina Shafqat (POF) 1.45, Uzma Rani (Railways) 1.40

Javelin throw: Parveen Akhtar (Railways) 40.39 (NR), Shaban Kausar (Wapda) 38.13, Nazia Butt (POF) 35.10

Pole vault: Balqees Hashmi (Wapda) 2.20, Bazgha Ali (Wapda) 2.00.

Hammer throw: Razia Sultana (Wapda) 38.01, Asma Hameed (Wapda) 33.92, Mehwish (POF) 29.64

4x100m relay: POF 49.0, Wapda 50.4, Railways 51.3