32nd National Games: Wapda continue dominance on third day

Sindh swimmers help team stay 2nd in Lahore.

KARACHI: Wapda continued their dominance of the 32nd National Games as they finished the third day top of the table with 26 gold medals while female swimmers from Sindh bagged 10 gold medals to keep them in second place.

Wapda won five gold medals in the six cycling events that took place yesterday. They won the 1km men’s team cycling sprint event in one minute and 16 seconds, while Punjab and Higher Education Commission (HEC) got silver and bronze respectively.

Wapda also took the women’s team sprint event in one minute and 27 seconds with HEC and Punjab following the winners. In the individual events, Wapda’s national champion Sabir Ali won the elimination race while Raheela Bano grabbed gold in the women’s event.

Sindh shine at swimming events

While Wapda dominated the cycling events, Sindh’s female swimmers won five out of seven events on the third day. Rida Mitha grabbed gold in the 200m freestyle event in two minutes and 41.04 seconds, while Soha Sanjrani won the 200m individual medley as well as the 200m butterfly competition, clocking three minutes and 33.34 seconds.

Sindh had an impressive day in the pool with their swimmers grabbing 10 golds to help them retain second place in the medals table. PHOTO: SHAFIQ MALIK/EXPRESS

Sindh women’s team also won the 4x100m freestyle relay event in five minutes and 19.86 seconds, while Wapda came second in five minutes and 39.04 seconds. Islamabad grabbed bronze in seven minutes and 39.20 seconds.

In other events of the day, Wapda won the kabaddi gold medal as they defeated Punjab 36-25 in the final, while Sindh finished third. Wapda also won the tennis event by defeating Punjab 2-0.

Hockey event gets cancelled 

While the Punjab Olympics Association (PbOA) said that the athletics events will start from today at the Pakistan Railways Stadium, they confirmed that the officials have decided to cancel the hockey event from the National Games due to the lack of participation.

The official said that the event requires at least six teams but, due to the absence of the teams from Army, Navy and Pakistan Air Force, the PbOA decided to cancel the event.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 25^th, 2012.