QUETTA: Mohammad Naeem Akhtar of Army won the men’s 100-metre title on the first day of track and field events of the 34th National Games on Friday at the Ayub Stadium in Quetta.

Naeem sprinted to victory in the premier athletics event as he romped home in 9.90 seconds. Wapda’s Isha Imran clocked 11.30 seconds to take the women’s 100-metre title.

The 5,000-metre title went to Akhtar Ali of Wapda while Army won the gold in men’s 400x4 hurdle relay.

Wapda’s Javeria Kiran claimed women’s 400-metre hurdles title.

Another gold medal was earned by Army when their athletes grabbed the taekwondo gold.

Nabeela Riaz of Army took gold in the women’s shot put event, recording a throw of 11.36 metres.

Army won three more titles in wushu while Punjab earned one.

Army grabbed two golds in the men’s section and one in women’s, Punjab claimed their gold on the women’s side.

In the men’s events, Shoaib clinched gold in Chan-Quan and Faisal won the Tai-Chi title.

On the women’s side, Samreen of Punjab took the Tai-Chi crown while Army’s Rubab bagged gold in Chan-Quan.

In karate, Army won four gold medals — two each in men’s and women’s categories.

In the men’s event, Shoaib Akhtar of Army defeated Railways’ Ali Madad in the below 50kg final to clinch gold while in the below 55kg decider, Asmatullah of Wapda lost to Army’s Farhan Rasheed.

In the women’s section, Sabira Gul of Army claimed gold after overcoming Sindh’s Areesha Nadeem in the below 50kg final. Aneta Batool gave Army below 45kg title when she beat Faiza of Balochistan.

Meanwhile, Army with a total of 16 golds took the rowing title in Islamabad.

Army also fared impressively on the opening day of swimming competitions being held at the Nishtar Sports Complex in Lahore.

In both men’s and women’s contests, Army swimmers claimed six golds each.

Punjab claimed their first gold medal of the National Games when 14-year-old sensation Mohid Sadiq Lone claimed first position in 200m backstroke.

In women’s contests, Sindh also notched up one gold.

Meanwhile, Army’s unseeded Huzaifa Abdul Rehman upset fifth seed Mohammed Abid of Wapda in men’s singles tennis event at the PTF Tennis Complex in Islamabad.

Rehman downed Abid 6-1, 6-3.

In other men’s singles pre-quarterfinals, Aqeel Khan (Wapda) beat Israr GUL (KP) 6-0, 6-3; Mohammad Shoaib (PAF) defeated Zubair Raja (Sindh) 6-0, 6-0; Abdullah Adnan (Army) beat Asad Zaman (Punjab) 6-3, 6-2; Khalil Yousaf (PAF) downed Uzair Khan (HEC) 6-0, 6-2; Barkatullah (KP) was given a walkover against Faizan Fayyaz (Punjab); Huzaifa A. Rehman (Army) outplayed Mohammad Abid (Punjab) 6-1, 6-3; Ahmad Nael (Islamabad) beat Rizwan Shah (Balochis­tan) 6-1, 6-1; and M. Talha Khan (Islamabad) outclassed Aqeel Shabbir (Navy) 6-1, 6-0.

In men’s doubles quarter-finals), Barkatullah and Saqib Umer (KP) beat Syed Nofil Kaleem and Mohammad Talha (Islamabad) 6-1, 7-6(2); Mohammad Shoaib and Yousuf Khalil (PAF) routed Ahmed Nael and Mohammad Huzaifa (Islamabad) 6-4, 6-2; Shahzad Khan and Mudassar Murtaza (Punjab) got walkover against the duo of Asad Zaman and Faizan Fayyaz (Punjab).

In the women’s singles pre-quarterfinals, Sarah Mehboob (Wapda) beat Rahat-ul-Ain (HEC) 6-1, 6-0; Shimza Naz (HEC) outgunned Zara Afzal (Balochistan) 6-1, 6-1; Amna Ali Qayyum (Army) blanked Yumna Malik (Sindh) 6-0, 6-0; Zainab Ali Naqvi (PAF) outclassed Latifa Yousofi (Balochistan) 6-2, 6-1; Ushna Sohail (Wapda) overwhelmed Zainab Ali Raja (Islamabad) 6-1, 6-0; and Labika Iqbal (Punjab) overcame Kainat Ali (Islamabad) 7-5, 6-2. Tahreem Yousuf (Sindh) and Sheeza Sajid (PAF) got walkovers against Mahin Aftab (Army) and Oreen (KP), respectively.

Mehaq Khokhar and Esha Jawad (Wapda) beat Zainab Ali Raja and Fatima Ali Raja (Islamabad) 6-0, 6-0; Sarah Mehboob and Ushna Suhail (Wapda) crushed Tahreem Yousaf and Yuman Malik (Sindh) 6-0, 6-0; and Shimza Durab and Rahat-uk-Ain (HEC) downed Mehvish Chishtie and Kainat Ali (Islamabad) 6-4 6-2. The pair of Sheeza Sajid and Zainab Ali Naqvi (PAF) got walkover against the duo of Oreen and Maryam (KP) in the women’s doubles quarter-finals.

Wapda earned three gold medals on the first day of the wrestling event.

Mohammad Bilal beat Tariq Mahmood (Army) to win 57kg gold, Inayatullah downed Babar Shah (Railways) to claim 70kg title while 79kg gold was clinched by Abdul Rahman who defeated Ghulam Ghous (Army).

In the men’s table tennis team event semi-finals, Army outplayed Railways 3-0 while Wapda outclassed the Higher Education Commission with the same score.

Army and Wapda also qualified for the men’s basketball final.

In the last-four matches, Army defeated Pakistan Air Force 80-53 while Wapda overpowered Punjab 73-50.

Wapda won gold in the men’s squash event while the women’s title was claimed by Army.

Published in Dawn, May 27TH, 2023