PHOTO COURTESY: TARIQ ALI
KARACHI: Ahmed Butt bagged Pakistan’s first medal on the opening day of the 2016 Asian Beach Games in Vietnam yesterday, while Muhammad Abid, Amir Hamza and the women’s pairing of Maryam Jabbar and Humaira Ashiq added a bronze apiece to the country’s haul later in the day.
Butt defeated Alla Issa Al Roghani 3-0 in the semi-finals of the 94kg newaza event but lost 4-0 to UAE’s Yahya alHammadi in the final to finish with a silver medal.
Meanwhile, Maryam and Humaira defeated their compatriots Ambreen Masih and Kashaf Javed 38-33 to take home the bronze medal in the women’s duo system jiu-jitsu competition.
Pakistan jiu-jitsu team to depart for Vietnam
Abid also won a bronze as he defeated Turkmenistan’s Dovran Myradov 99-0 in the 94kg event, while Hamza emerged triumphant in the 69kg semi-final against Vietnam’s Dung Tri Pham 99-0.
“It’s been a good performance by Pakistan,” the Pakistan Ju-Jitsu Federation (PJJF) President Khalil Ahmed told The Express Tribune. “But it was just the first day and we are hoping to win more medals in the following two days of the competition.”
Eight-member squad to represent Pakistan in Korea
Elsewhere, Pakistan drew 31-31 against India in their kabaddi Group A fixture to qualify for the semi-finals, where they will face South Korea today. The handball team also won their opening match against India 2-0 and will now take on Bahrain in their next match. The volleyball team, however, had a disappointing day as both Razzaq Raza and Moon Khan lost 2-0 to Qatar’s Tijan Julio and Cherif Jefferson respectively.
Published in The Express Tribune, September 26th, 2016.
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