RAWALPINDI, Oct 17: Army raced into the lead on the first day of the 38th National Athletics Championship with a haul of four gold medals while Railways’ Bashiran Bibi equalled her 400m hurdles record.
The Army athletes took gold in men’s pole vault, long jump, 400m hurdles and 5000m to accumulate 53 points in the championship being held at the Army Stadium.
Wapda were in second place with two silver and a bronze, totalling 31 points. They were followed by PAF with eight points, having won one gold.
On the women’s side Wapda led with 35 points, their athletes landing two gold and an equal number of silver and bronze medals. Their achievements left POF trailing with 24 points while Railways had 19 points for the day.
Muhammad Ayub earned Army their first gold in the pole vault as he went 4.70m leaving Wapda’s Javed Iqbal in second place at 4.60m while Essab Khan was third going 4.50m
Waseem Khan then leapt 7.50m in the long jump final giving Army another gold as he edged team-mate Zafar Iqbal who jumped 7.38m. The bronze went to Asif Gulzar of Wapda who touched the 7.18m mark.
The 400m hurdles gold was also claimed by Army, Muhammad Amin clocking 50.9 as Allah Ditta came in second in a time of 51.0. Railways Iftikhar Hussain was third in 52.2 sec.
There was again a one-two finish for Army in the 5000m as Muhammad Arshad and Muhammad Shahid took the gold and silver respectively. Navy’s Waris Masih claimed the bronze.
Arshad was home in 14:33.9 sec while Shahid followed with a time of 14:56.3 and Waris clocked 15:01.2.
Wapda’s women did well, Zeenat Parveen and Fouzia Khatoon clinching the gold and silver in the shot put final with distances of 13.06 and 11.33m.
The Wapda girls also excelled in the 10,000m in which Shazia Hidyat captured the gold in a time of 47:29.5 with her team-mate Sadia Parveen bagging a silver in 47:40.4. Shumaila Qadeer of Railways was third.
Bashiran Bibi romped to victory in the women’s 400m to clinch gold as she equalled her record of 64.2 set at the 2002 National Championship in Peshawar.
In the women’s 800m, both the gold and silver were claimed by Sajida Ramzan and Sumera Zahoor who were timed in 2:17.7 and 2:20.4 respectively.
Results (men):
Pole vault final: Muhammad Ayub (Army) 4.70m, Javed Iqbal (Wapda) 4.60m, Essab Khan (Army) 4.50m
Long jump final: Waseem Khan (Army) 7.50m, Zafar Iqbal (Army) 7.38m, Asif Gulzar (Wapda) 7.18m.
400m hurdles final: Muhammad Amin (Army) 50.9, Allah Ditta (Army) 51.0, Iftikhar Hussain (Railways) 52.2
5000m final: Muhammad Arshad (Army) 14:33.9, Muhammad Shahid (Army) 14:56.3, Waris Masih (Navy) 15:01.2 Medals and points table: (read as gold, silver, bronze, points): Army: 4-3-2-53, Wapda 0-2-1-31, PAF 1-0-0-8, Railways 0-0-1-5, Navy 0-0-1-4, POF 0-0-0-4
Women:
Shot put final: Zeenat Parveen (Wapda) 13.06m, Fouzia Khatoon (Wapda) 11.33m, Nazia Butt (POF) 10.49m
10,000m final: Shazia Hidyat (Wapda) 47:29.5, Sadia Parveen (Wapda) 47:40.4, Shumaila Qadeer (Railways) 52:03.4
800m final: Sajida Ramzan (POF) 2:17.7, Sumera Zahoor (POF) 2:20.4, Shugfta Parveen (Wapda) 2:26.7
400m hurdles final: Bashiran Bibi (Railways) 64.2, Fouzia Aurangzeb (POF) 65.0, Saira Bano (Wapda) 71.8 Medals and points table (read as gold, silver, bronze, points): Wapda 2-2-2-35, POF 1-2-1-24, Railways 1-0-1-19, Sindh 0-0-0-2.