KUALA LUMPUR: Pakistan’s girls throwball team went down fighting against India 2-0 in the final to bag silver medal at the Asian Junior Throwball Championship which concluded here at the Bidara Court Selanyang on Thursday.

The green-shirts, displaying a fantastic game, kept the Indian opponents on their feet in the thrilling final which was played in front of a good crowd.

They gave tough time to India but lost the first set 26-24.

The second set too was a fine contest and Pakistan’s girls came close to pulling off a victory but Indian team made a fine comeback to win in the end 25-23 and clinched gold medal.

Hosts Malaysia finished with bronze.

In the boys competition, Sri Lanka beat India 2-0 in an exciting final to win the gold medal.

The Sri Lankan girls were in fine form and showed very fine all round throwball techniques to win the first set 25-22.

The second set was also a well fought one but Sri Lanka clinched it in the end 25-20 to lift the boys’ title.

Earlier on Wednesday, Pakistan’s boys team beat Indonesia 2-0 in a thrilling match while the girls team got the better of host Malaysia by 2-0.

Sri Lanka beat host Malaysia to give the fans a lot to cheer about.

Six teams including Malaysia, Sri Lanka, India, Pakistan, Bangaladesh and Indonesia took part in the championship.

President of the Asian Throwball Federation Dato Sri Mustapa Kamal Bin Maulut and ATF general secretary Maqbool Arain were the chief guests at the closing ceremony and distributed the medals and prizes among the players.

In his speech the two ATF officials announced that the seventh Asian Men and Women Throwball Championship 2017 will be held in April in Pakistan.

Published in Dawn, December 30th, 2016