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JEDDAH, April 10: Pakistan moved into table tennis quarterfinals and scored a victory in volleyball but failed in remaining five disciplines at the 1st Islamic Countries Solidarity Games on Sunday.
Pakistan reached table tennis quarterfinals in Taif, beating Jordan and Kyrgyzstan 3-0 on Saturday and getting walk-over against Djibouti on Sunday.
Skipper Farjad Saif, Kashif and Saleem Abbas played one match each against both the rivals to score triumphs.
Pakistan will play their last pool match against Turkey on Monday who have also qualified for the last eight.
On the volleyball court, Pakistan started the campaign with an impressive 3-1 win in the opener against Iraq at the GPYW Sports City Hall on Sunday.
In the 45-minute match, Pakistan scored a 21-25, 25-19, 25-13, 25-16 victory against the Iraqis.
Iraq dominated the first set with fine blocking and attacking game. But Pakistan changed the strategy and put up resistance against the Iraqi attack. Change in plans by Pakistan resulted in Iraq losing remaining three sets and the match.
Pakistan captain Irfan Nawaz, the setter, was impressive while smashers Kashif Mansoor and Zaheer Abbas supported the captain well.
After losing the first set with a close margin, Pakistan staged a comeback winning the second in 25 minutes to equalize 1-1. Pakistan improved as Zaheer and Mansoor exhibited fine smashing to help their team win the third set 2-1 in 19 minutes.
Maintaining pace of attack, Pakistan completed the win after dropping only 16 points in 20-minute fourth set.
Later, Irfan attributed the victory to the team work. “We played with unity and exploited the weak points of Iraqi to score the win.”
About the next match against formidable Iran, the skipper admitted the match would be the real test for his team. Pakistan will meet Iran on Tuesday before facing Palestine on Wednesday. A win from next two matches could guarantee Pakistan a quarterfinal berth.
FOOTBALL
Pakistan lost 2-0 to Morocco in football competition at the King Fahad Sports City in Taif Saturday night.
After a goalless first half, Pakistan conceded two goals after the break.
Merri Tariq put Morocco 1-0 ahead by scoring a fine field goal in the 48th minute with a volley that went over stand-in Pakistan goalkeeper Shahzad. Ahisam doubled the lead in the 67th minute.
Pakistan number one goalkeeper Jaffar Khan was replaced by Shahzad after he started limping in the second half following a collision with skipper Tanvir Ahmad in the first half.
A win against Malaysia on Wednesday will take Pakistan into the quarterfinals. Pakistan now have a relatively comfortable situation after the withdrawal of Kuwait.
Asked the reason of defeat although Morocco had fielded a young team as their players were busy in professional league in different countries, coach Tariq Lutfi unconvincingly said “it does not matter we were playing against Morocco who are the African champions.”
SWIMMING
Five more Pakistani swimmers failed to move ahead at the GPYW pool on Sunday.
In 100 metres butterfly stroke, Mehboob Ali and Adil Beg failed to qualify for the final. Mehboob clocked 57.10 seconds to gain the 15th spot in the heat, while Adil clocked 57.16 seconds to earn 16th place. Khan Valahy of Kazakhstan won a timing of 52.20 seconds.
In 200 metres breaststroke, Abdul Aziz clocked two minutes 46.14 seconds. Similarly, Ali Gul gave a disappointing performance in the 200 metres butterfly stroke, clocking two minutes 42.79 seconds. Imdad Ali failed to reach the next stage in 200 metres backstroke, covering the distance in two minutes 44.08 seconds.
On the opening day, the Pakistanis were ousted from all five events they competed. The quartet of Mumtaz Ahmad, Mehboob Ali, Adil Beg and Mohammad Hameer crashed out of the competition after some achievement as they qualified for the final of 4x200 metres freestyle. However, in the final they clocked eight minutes 47.27 seconds to finish at poor seventh place.
Kazakhstan won the gold while Egypt and Tuinsia went with silver and bronze medal.
Pakistan have to appear in six more events and chances of any success are bleak as the swimmers from Iran, Kazakhstan, and Algeria are dominating the pool.
HANDBALL
Pakistan were ousted from the handball contest after losing both pool matches.
After losing to Saudi Arabia 53-23 on Saturday, Pakistan faced a huge 44-26 defeat to Morocco in the last pool ‘A’ match. Morocco had gained 29-13 lead in the first half.
From Pakistan Manzoor Ahmad was the top scorer with nine goals while Naseer (six) and Tariq (five) were key scorers.
BASKETBALL
Pakistan faced their second defeat when they lost 132-44 to Algeria in the basketball which virtually dashed hopes of reaching the next round at Prince Mohammed Bin Abdul Aziz Sport City, Madina.
Pakistan, who lost to Tunisia in the opener 123-39 on Saturday night, meet Libya on Monday and Tajikistan on Wednesday in remaining two pool matches.
The game has been suffering in the country due to two parallel bodies. One group is headed by Col Nasim Butt which is recognized by Pakistan Sports Board. Khalid Bashir claims himself the secretary of the other group.
Interestingly, the Pakistani players could not get international exposure in last 12 years. The ad hoc body is working for the last five years.
KARATE
Pakistan failed to earn any achievement in karate at Madina as they could not win any medal in two events. Iran won both gold medals of individual kata and team kata.
In individual kata, Morocco and Egypt claimed the silver and bronze medals. In team event, Malaysia and Egypt grabbed the silver and bronze medals.
