Another Sindh Games title for Karachi

Bag event for the 12th time as Hyderabad finish in second place

MIRPUR KHAS: Karachi continued their domination of the Sindh Games, clinching the 15th edition of the event for their 12th overall title.

Karachi ended with a total of 94 gold medals, beating Hyderabad into second place who won 42, while Sukkur finished third with a modest tally of 15 gold medals.

On the last day of the event, Karachi’s Razia Sher Khan clinched gold in the women’s 100-metre (m) race, while Riaz Khan emerged as the winner in the men’s race.

Razia covered the distance in just 14.78 seconds and Riaz bagged the gold medal after clocking a time of 11.31 seconds.

Razia also proved to be the best athlete of the event, winning five gold and two bronze medals in the 220m, 400m, long jump and 400m relay races.

“I can’t be more proud of myself,” Razia told The Express Tribune. “With all the poor conditions and extremely hot weather here I managed to win the most medals among all the men and women here.

“Our whole Karachi contingent has just been outstanding and we proved that we can win gold medals in all sorts of conditions. Now other cities can’t really complain that we are the privileged one.”

Karachi win hockey event

Karachi also took the gold medals in the men and women’ hockey events. The men’s team defeated Larkana in the final, while their female counterparts got the better of Sukkur 6-0.

Karachi also won four gold medals in the boxing events, while Hyderabad stood second with three. In the 75-kg final bout, Karachi’s Wali khan beat Shahzan Ahmed from Hyderabad.

However, Hyderabad’s Waqas Mohammad outsmarted Larkana’s Waseem Ali to win the 80-kg title.

Hyderabad to stage Games next year

The provincial sports minister and Sindh Olympic Association chief Dr Mohammad Ali Shah said the next edition of the event will be held in Hyderabad.

Shah also praised the Mirpurkhas associations that hosted more than 2000 athletes in 48 sports events.

Meanwhile, Olympian Islahuddin Siddiqi won the Peace Walk, organised to pay tribute to the culture and Mirpurkhas city, after covering the distance of one kilometre in nine minutes.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 2^nd, 2012.