LAHORE, May 7: The Pakistan powerlifting team which bagged 12 gold medals, eight silver and two bronze in the Asian Senior and Junior championships was accorded a warm welcome when arrived at the Lahore airport on Wednesday afternoon.

The championships were held in Almaty, Kazakhstan and concluded on Sunday.

A  four-member team included top medal winner Imran Khalid, Adeel Rana, Qamar and Aamir Hussain with coach Hafiz Imran Butt welcomed by a large numbers of fans at the airport. Imran who competed in both senior and junior categories and earned seven gold and one silver and set four new Asian  records told journalists that it was a happiest moment of his life when the Pakistan flag hoisted high in Almaty.

Imran who competed in 100 kgs class, said that every game  was tough but with hard work good results could be obtained. He said that in all, 17 Asian countries fielded their powerlifters in the 100 kgs class included Japan, India and several others.

Adeel who grabbed four gold and two bronze medals said  that it was his best-ever performance in any international competition.

Adeel said that the  competition was tough but Pakistani displayed their true potential and returned with success.

Qamar and Aamir said that the good performance was the  result of the better preparations and planning adopted by the federation.They vowed the powerlifters would earn more success for  the country.

Aamir said that it was his first appearance  in any international event.

Coach Hafiz Imran said that the performance of Pakistan  in this  sport was increasing after every tournament.

He said  that the team was well prepared and the players fully followed the instructions which resulted in this big success.