Wapda dominate athletics championships’ opening day

KARACHI: The first day of the 42nd National Athletics Championship turned out to be a successful one for Wapda. The women athletes of Wapda are leading with six gold medals while their arch rivals Pakistan Army have secured three medals in the men’s events.

In the 200-metres race, Pakistan Army’s Liaqat Ali bagged the gold medal after finishing first in 21.17 seconds, beating his teammate Afzal Baig, who ended in the second position in 21.89 seconds. HEC’s Ali Raza Toor secured third position with 22.60 seconds.

In the women’s event, Wapda’s Nadia Nazeer (25.44) and Rozina Shafqat (27.31) secured the gold and silver medal respectively while HEC’s Madiha Latif ended in the third place with 27.48 seconds.

Wapda’s domination continued as they bagged the first and second positions in the javelin throw after Parveen Akhtar won gold with her 44.78-metres throw while Saira Saeed took the silver with 41.13 metres. Army’s Mohammad Imran won the men’s event covering 68.92 metres, while Pakistan Air Force athlete, Mohammad Imran threw 68.29 metres to finish in second position.

In other events, Wapda’s Rabia Ashiq secured the gold medal in the 1,000-metre race as well.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 7^th, 2010.