Army athletes shine

KARACHI: Army’s Javed Ahmed excelled at the National Athletics Championship to win the 10, 000 metres gold as his side prevailed over its opponents on the third day of the event being held at the Jinnah Complex, Islamabad.

Ahmed clocked 33 minutes and 9.48 seconds to win the premier medal beating Pakistan Air Force’s Muhammad Sakawat, who finished the distance in 34 minutes and 22.4 seconds. Wapda’s Gulshan Masih secured the bronze medal as he finished third on the podium by completing the job in 34 minutes and 38.26 seconds.

Army received their second gold medal of the day from Basharat Ali, who clinched the discus throw final with a fling of 53.70 metres. Ali’s teammate Muhammad Shamshad secured the silver medal with 48.03 metres while Wapda’s Faisal Hasan claimed the bronze with an accurate 45meter throw.

Zafar Iqbal brought the third premier medal for Army as he won the triple jump final with a distance of 15.89 metres. He was followed by his teammate Muhammad Imran who grabbed the silver medal while Akhter Ali of Wapda won bronze in the event.

Higher Education Commission earned the gold medal in high jump when Muhammad Wajahat cleared a height of 2.01 metres surpassing his opponents in the final. Army’s Muhammad Maqsood ended up on joint-second with jumps of 1.95 metres.

In the 400metre women’s final, Nadia Nazeer of Wapda prevailed over her rivals to win the gold medal. She clocked 57.24 seconds and was closely followed by her teammate Shagufta Naureen who finished second with a time of 59.43 seconds. Sindh’s Almas stood third on the podium.