India outclass Pakistan for gold

Published October 8, 2002

BUSAN, Oct 7: India routed Pakistan 37-7 here Monday to win a fourth consecutive Asian Games kabaddi gold medal in a match that saw tempers flare between players for the political rivals.

The concluding round-robin match was the first kabaddi meeting between India and Pakistan in three years. Bangladesh won the silver medal and bronze went to Pakistan.

Late in the first half with India leading 22-4, Pakistan’s Muhammad Latif shoved India’s Ramesh Kumar as he was waiting before crossing the center line to claim a point for touching out Latif.

Kumar responded with a shove and both teams rushed to the center of the court before officials intervened and cooler heads prevailed.

Moments after the teams were seperated, Latif strode across the court to the India team and apoligized to Kumar. Pakistani coach Muhammad Sarwar swatted him on the back of the head for starting the fracas as he walked to apologize.

NOMAN IN SEMIS

Pakistan’s Noman Karim stormed into lightweight semifinals after drubbing Violito Payla of the Philippines, 31-19 in the boxing competition.

Noman’s opponent in the last four will be South Korea’s Kim Tae-Kue who beat Otgonchuluun Batkhuu of Mongolia when referee stopped the contest in the second round.

Pakistani super-heavyweight Mirza Muzafar Iqbal is also in the semifinals after outpointing Ruslan Avasov of Kyrgyzstan, 24-8.

His opponent will be Uzbek Rustam Saidov, bronze medallist in the last Olympics, who stopped India’s Harpal Singh late in the third round.

Results:

(Quarterfinals)

LIGHTWEIGHT: Noman Karim (Pak) bt Violito Payla (Phi) pts 31-19; Kim Tae-Kue (Kor) bt Otgonchuluun Batkhuu (Mgl) RSCO 2nd rd; Somjit Jongjohor (Tha) bt Kaoru Murahashi (Jpn) pts 16-4; Zou Gang (Chn) bt Ratnayake Anuruddha Bandara (Sri) pts 27-13

SUPER-HEAVYWEIGHT: Mukhtarkhan Dildabekov (Kaz) bt Lee Kang-Un (Kor) pts 26-12; Zhang Junlong (Chn) bt Pan Minnan (Tpe) RSCO 2nd rd; Mirza Muzafar Iqbal (Pak) bt Ruslan Avasov (Kgz) pts 24-8; Rustam Saidov (Uzb) bt Harpal Singh (Ind) RSCO 3rd rd.

ALLAH DITA QUALIFIES

Pakistan’s Allah Dita finished seventh with a time of 50.77 to qualify for the the 400 metres hurdles final.

ATHLETICS RESULTS:

Qualifiers for 400m hurdles final

1. Mubarak al-Nobi (Qat) 48.76 (GR)

2. Hadi al-Somayli 49.03 (Ksa)

3. Dai Tamesue (Jpn) 49.66

4. Yevgeniy Melesshenko (Kaz) 49.82

5. Ashok Jayasundara (Sri) 50.40

6. Ken Yoshizawa (Jpn) 50.65

7. Allah Ditta (Pak) 50.77

8. Chen Tien-Wen (Tpe) 51.05.—AFP

Opinion

Respite needed

Respite needed

All one can fear is a familiar accounting exercise that aims to extract a few more rupees from a narrow, weary economic base.

Editorial

Soft on traders
08 Jun, 2026

Soft on traders

THE Fixed Tax Asaan Scheme for traders with an annual turnover of up to Rs200m has been designed as a ‘pragmatic...
Ceasefire in name
Updated 08 Jun, 2026

Ceasefire in name

Both sides accuse the other of violating the truce that was supposed to halt the conflict in April, yet neither appears willing to abandon negotiations altogether.
Damaged childhoods
08 Jun, 2026

Damaged childhoods

CHILD abuse is so prevalent that the UN ranked Pakistan as the least safe country for children. Even so, more than...
JAAC ban
Updated 07 Jun, 2026

JAAC ban

Though the JAAC’s demands are open to scrutiny, banning any political organisation — as long as it remains committed to peaceful activism — is undemocratic.
GB election
Updated 07 Jun, 2026

GB election

It is important that whichever party ultimately forms the government puts the needs of the people of GB above everything else.
ODI win
07 Jun, 2026

ODI win

AT last, the Pakistan cricket team had something to celebrate: a One-day International series victory against...