JEDDAH, April 14: Like tennis, Pakistan showed glimpses of talent in athletics on Thursday, the sixth day of the first Islamic Games.
In tennis, Pakistan is expecting gold medals, with Aisamul Haq Qureshi and Aqeel Khan moving into the quarterfinals of the singles event after winning matches against rivals from Azerbaijan at the King Fahad Sport City courts in Taif.
Pakistan’s chances to get a gold in the team events also increased with Aisam and Aqeel beating Tajkistan 2-0 to reach the quarterfinals .
In the singles, Aisam got a walkover against Fareed Shizinov of Azerbaijan who did not turn up at the venue.
Aqeel registered a facile 6-3, 6-3 win over Fakhar L Din Shizinov of Azerbaijan.
In the team event, Aqeel carved out an easy win against Mansoor Yakayau 6-1, 6-3.
Aisam brushed aside Dilshad Sharifi 6-1, 6-0 in the second singles to complete the win.
Pakistan might be playing the team event semifinals directly and a decision in this connection will be taken later in the night.
ATHLETICS
Four athletes qualified for the finals of 200m and 110m hurdles races at the King Abdul Aziz Stadium in Makkah.
In 200m , Afzal Beg clocked 21.71 seconds to finish third in the semifinals. Imran Ali reached the distinction in 21.72 seconds to qualify for the finals.
In 110m hurdles, Abdul Rashid covered the distance in 14.18 seconds to come third in the semifinals. Muhammad Shah was second in the heat by clocking 14.19 seconds to book a place in the finals.
The finals will be played on Friday, the last day of the competition.
VOLLEYBALL
Pakistan take on Morocco in the first match of volleyball quarterfinals league at the Alhali Club here on Friday.
Pakistan qualified for the league as runners-up of pool ‘B’ after beating Iraq and Palestine and losing to Iran which finally finished on top.
According to the draws announced on Thursday, the other two countries placed in Pakistan’s group are Egypt and Algeria.
Assistant coach Mohammad Ashraf said that although he had no idea of the strength of Morocco the two other teams were of the same level as Pakistan.
“We could not see any match of Morocco due to our own ties but we will fight till last ”, he said.
“I think we could beat Egypt and Algeria as their play is not superior to ours. However the most important is the performance of our boys on the given day”, he said.
The other pool is tough with Iran and Saudi Arabia , the two strong contenders for the gold in it.
“Yes thank God we have an easier pool compared to the second one, as Iran and Saudi Arabia are ranking teams”.
In all, eight teams qualified for the league and have been divided into the two groups. Top two teams from each group will reach the semifinals to be played on April 18. The final is scheduled to be held on April 19.
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