KARACHI: Fancied Army lived up to their reputation while retaining the overall trophy in the National Taekwondo Championship which concluded at the NED University of Engineering and Technology gymnasium on Tuesday.
The soldiers amassed 710 points from 29-3-1 (gold, silver and bronze) medals to maintain their supremacy in the country’s premier taekwondo event.
Wapda finished runners-up with a tally of 324 points that they earned by securing 5-9-9 medals while Railways finished third after they seized 250 points from nine silver and as many bronze.
Higher Education Commission (HEC) had to be content with fourth position with a total of 210 points from six silver and 10 bronze. They were followed by two teams of the hosts. Sindh Greens was placed fifth with 180 points (four silver and 15 bronze) and Sindh Blues 80 points (nine bronze).
Army’s Naqash Hamdani and Mehrunnisa turned out to be the most successful female athletes as they fetched four golds apiece while Shahbaz, also of Army, shone in the men’s category securing three golds.
Squash legend Jahangir Khan graced the occasion and awarded the winning trophy to victorious Army team amidst applause.
Flanked by former national cricket selector Salahuddin Ahmed, Jahangir also awarded runners-up trophy to Wapda and third placed award to Railways.
The Pakistan Taekwondo Federation (PTF) president retired Lt Col Waseem Ahmed and chairman organising committee Faiz-ul-Hadi Khan were prominent among others who were also present.
Results:
Male -54kg:
Semi-finals: M. Shafique (Army) bt Rashid Ali (Railways), Tariq Aziz (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa) bt Akif Ali (Police).
Final: M. Shafique (Army) bt Tariq Aziz (Police).
Male -63kg:
Semi-finals: M. Ashfaq (Army) bt Mujtaba (Sindh Blues), M. Iqbal (Railways) bt Bashir (Balochistan).
Final: M. Ashfaq (Army) bt M. Iqbal (Railways).
Male -74kg:
Semi-finals: Syed Adeel Shah (Army) bt Zubair (Police), M. Bilal (Wapda) bt Rahat Ali (Railways).
Final: Syed Adeel Shah (Army) bt M. Bilal (Wapda).
Male -87kg:
Semi-finals: M. Faheem (Wapda) bt M. Idrees (HEC), Sajjad Hussain (Army) bt Zubair Afsar (Gilgit-Baltistan).
Final: M. Faheem (Wapda) bt Sajjad Hussain (Army).
Female -49kg:
Semi-finals: Ayesha Noor (Army) bt Ayesha (Sindh Blues), Anoosha (Sindh Greens) bt Iqra Shareef (Railways).
Final: Ayesha Noor (Army) bt Anoosha (Sindh Greens).
Female -57kg:
Semi-finals: Farseen Hamdani (Army) bt Rimsha Batool (HEC), Zeba Riaz (Railways) bt Asia (Polic).
Final: Farseen Hamdani (Army) bt Zeba Riaz (Railways).
Female -67kg:
Semi-finals: Madiha Gul (HEC) bt Tayyaba Khan (Wapda), Mahnoor (Army) bt Sumiya Siddiqui (Sindh Greens).
Final: Mahnoor (Army) bt Madiha Gul (HEC).
Female -73kg:
Semi-finals: Asia Batool (Army) bt Kulsum (Khyber Pakhtunkhwa), Asma Ali (HEC) bt Faiza Farid (Sindh Blues).
Final: Asia Batool (Army) bt Asma Ali (HEC).
Final medals table
G S B PArmy 29 3 1 710
Wapda 5 9 9 324
Railways 0 9 9 250
HEC 0 6 10 210
Sindh Greens 0 4 15 180
Sindh Blues 0 0 9 80
Published in Dawn, May 11th, 2016