Pakistan crumble in final

Australia grabbed gold in the hockey event after defeating Pakistan 2-1 in the final at the first Youth Olympics.  Pakistan, who came in the match with hopes of winning gold, opened scoring in the 10th minute through Muhammad Umair, and it seemed like they were off to a win in the first half of the match much to Australia’s dismay at the Seng Kang Hockey Stadium.

But the second half saw a rejuvenated Australia firing consecutive goals as they seized control of the match. Dylan Wotherspoon scored in the 49th minute followed by Luke Noblett, who scored through a penalty stroke in the 67th minute.

Earlier, Pakistan had defeated Ghana, Belgium, China and Singapore and had lost to Australia 5-2 on their way to the final.

China dominate diving

Chinese diver Qiu Bo won his second diving gold of the tournament when he won the 10-metre platform final, resulting in China dominating the four gold medals on offer in the diving event. Qiu Bo had also won the three-metre springboard while teammate Liu Jiao took the girls’ titles for both.

Qiu Bo scored more than 90 points from his competitors for each of his five dives. The 17-year-old finished with 673.5 points, significantly ahead of Ukrainian Oleksandr Bondar (605.55) and Mexican Ivan Garcia (515.70).

Chile win girls’ football

Romina Orellana’s spot on penalty kick handed Chile victory against Equatorial Guinea in a thrilling girls’ football final. The 15-year-old forward scored the winning penalty helping her side win the penalty shoot-out 5-3 after the match had ended 1-1. Equatorial Guinea also walked away jubilant as they secured their first Olympic medal.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 26^th, 2010.