LAHORE, Dec 25: Wapda continued their domination at the 32nd National Games as they finished the fourth day with a tally of 48 golds here on Tuesday with Sindh and Punjab occupying second and third places winning 14 and 10 golds, respectively.
Wapda dominated the athletic events that kicked off on the fourth day of the national gala, winning six of the eight golds on offer, after they reigned supreme in swimming, cycling, karate and table tennis.
Wapda’s Hafiz Safdar and Punjab’s Sahiba Asra were declared the fastest man and woman of Pakistan after winning their respective 1 00m races at the Wapda Sports Complex.
Safdar touched the finishing line in 10.42 seconds ahead of Police’s Umar Hameed and Higher Education Commission’s (HEC) Hafiz Shahbaz while the 18-year-old Sahiba upset her more fancied rivals when she clocked 12.22 seconds, leaving behind Wapda’s Sumaira Tayyab and HEC’s Saima Shahzadi.
Wapda’s Nasren Akhtar had a spectacular double; winning the high-jump (1.44m) before clinching top spot in pole vault (2.55m). Zeenat Parveen continued Wapda’s gold rush in athletics when she won the shot-put (11.10m) while Rabia Aashiq, who participated in the London Olympics, won the 800m in 2:35.34. Ali Mahmood stormed to victory in the men’s 800m clocking 1:55.56.
HEC’s only gold medal in athletics came when Altaf Hussain threw the javelin to 65.55metres.
Wapda won the swimming championships with 14 gold, 20 silver and 14 bronze medals with Sindh finishing second after clinching 16 gold, 10 silver and six bronze medals. HEC and Punjab ended third and fourth respectively.
Sindh clinched top position in women’s category with 14 gold, nine silver and five bronze medals with Wapda winning the men’s category with nine golds, 11 silver and seven bronze medals.
Sindh’s Soha Sanjrani was declared as the best women swimmer after she won five golds, one silver and a bronze medal.
Wapda’s Ghulam Mohammad, who participated in the 2010 Youth Olympics, was adjudged as the best swimmer in men’s competitions after claiming six gold medals. He earned his final gold in the 1,500m freestyle, clocking 19:5.3.
Wapda’s second gold medal of the day came from Abdul Aziz in 50m breaststroke with the timing of 32.96 with the Wapda also winning the 4x100m medley relay race for the third gold medal of the day.
HEC won two gold medals first through Shahbaz Khan in 50m butterfly with a timing of 27.62 and then Sikandar Khan seized the second in 50m freestyle, reaching home in 26.07. Sindh also clinched a gold medal in 50m back-stroke through Haseeb Tariq who clocked 31.92.
In women’s category, Sindh clinched four gold medals, two by Rida Mitha and one by Aleesha Mitha besides taking a fourth one in 4x100m medley relay. Rida excelled in 50m freestyle clocking 31.07 and 50m butterfly in 35.32. Aleesha also outshined here rivals in the 50m backstroke clocking 38.61.
Wapda also held the sway on opening day of the karate event with their athletes winning five golds, a silver and a bronze medal with 150 points. Balochistan followed bagging a gold and a silver and two bronze medals with 57 points while Sindh trailed with 53 points.
HEC, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Police, Islamabad, Railways, Punjab and Fata are also taking part in the event.
Wapda’s women had a lion’s share in the achievement as they won all the three gold medals of the day. Sohila (individual), Kulsoom, Sohila, Sumayya (team event) and Benish Khan (above 68kg) were the gold medallists.In men’s category, Mohammad Ramzan (84kg) and Israr, Khaliq, Javed (team event) were the winners. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Majid (84kg) and Gul Zaman of Balochistan (individual event) are the other gold medallists.
Wapda earned gold medal in the team’s event of gymnastics with 274.70 points with the Pakistan Railways obtaining 244.60 points to claim silver while Punjab clinched bronze with 236.50 points. Wapda’s Khurram Shahzad was declared as the best gymnast of the team event.
Wapda continued their supremacy in the cycling after winning four more golds, two each by their men and women.
While Raheela Bano won another gold medal in 30km road time trial, their women’s team also won the 50km road time trials.
In men’s category, Sabir Ali won gold medal in the 40km individual road time trial, with Wapda’s team also winning the 70km team time trials.
Two events in weightlifting were also held at the Punjab University Old Campus with the Wapda winning a gold medal in 77kg weight category and HEC’s Imran Ismail taking the glory in the 69kg category.
Punjab snatched a gold medal in the rugby event at the DHA Stadium after defeating Police 38-5 in the final. HEC claimed bronze.
Wapda had a clean sweep in the table tennis, winning all four gold medals. In men’s team category final, Wapda fought hard to overpower Railways 3-2 while Wapda’s women’s side also eliminated the challenge from Sindh 3-0.
Wapda’s third gold came in women’s doubles final when the pair of Aisha and Ghazala defeated Saadia and Louiza in the all-Wapda final. Wapda’s Asim and Bilal won fourth gold medal when they toppled the pair of Saleem and Faisal, also of Wapda.
Elsewhere, Wapda defeated Punjab 2-1 as international Arif Mahmood struck both the goals for the winners during the league matches of football. Punjab defeated Khyber Pakhtunkhwa 3-0 in women’s football while Wapda beat the HEC 2-1.
Men and women’s pool matches were also held at the Punjab Squash Complex. In the men’s category, Wapda won two matches while Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Police, HEC, and Punjab won one each. In the women’s competitions, Wapda and HEC won two matches each.
