Taekwondo: Arshad misses Olympic berth

Athlete bagged bronze medal at the Asian Qualification round

KARACHI:

Pakistan’s Atif Arshad bagged a bronze medal at the Asian Qualification round for 2016 Olympics in Philippines.

Arshad reached the semi-finals of the +80kg event where he lost to Kazakhstan’s Ruslan Zhaparov 3-1, just missing out on a berth in Rio Olympics. Zhaparov later lost to China’s Qiao Sen 2-0, but managed to qualify for Rio Olympics as the finalist of the +80kg event.

“I’m proud that I got a bronze medal, but I’m disappointed that I didn’t qualify for Olympics,” Arshad told The Express Tribune. “It was a tough event with the highest standard of taekwondo with the exception of Olympics.”

Arshad said that he had missed out on the South Asian Games 2016 earlier this year, but feels great to win a medal for the country at the Asian qualifiers.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 18^th,  2016.

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