The Pakistan Army stormed into the 35th National Games on Wednesday, winning 113 gold medals after sweeping titles in athletics, swimming and several team events.
At the end of a pulsating day here, the Pakistan Army topped the medal standings with 113 gold medals, along with 50 silver and 34 bronze.
Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) remained second in the standings with 46 gold medals, followed by Pakistan Navy in third place with 24 top honours.
The action-packed day started with the 42.195km men’s marathon, where Pakistan Navy’s Shahbaz Masih took top honors by completing the course – which began at the Quaid-e-Azam monument and passed through several city routes – in 2 hours and 25 minutes.
Wapda’s Sher Khan finished second while Pakistan Navy’s Shoaib Akhtar secured third place.
Wapda’s Faiqa Riaz maintained her exceptional run at the Games by winning the women’s long jump with a leap of 5.52 metres, completing a hat-trick of gold medals after earlier triumphs in the 100m and 200m.
Pakistan Army’s dominance extended across athletics as Usman Ali (Men’s 200m), Mohammad Akhtar (10,000m) and Ismail (400m) added further golds to the division.
Wapda, on the other hand, swept several women’s athletics categories with Uzma Awan winning the hammer throw, Iram Shehzadi triumphing in the 1500m while Ghazala Ramzan emerged victorious in the 100m hurdles.
In swimming, Army’s Ahmed Durrani completed the double hat-trick of gold medals after winning six laurels for his division after adding wins in the 800m freestyle, 200m freestyle and 200m relay.
Wapda’s Hamza Asif broke a national record in the men’s 50m breaststroke, while Jehanara Nabi continued her strong performance in women’s swimming and Hareem secured another gold for Sindh.
Pakistan Army also excelled in rowing, winning five golds and one silver, while Pakistan Navy picked up two golds and five silvers.
In women’s weightlifting, honors were shared with eye-catching wins for Pakistan Army’s Khadija Waheed (69kg) and Sonia Azmat (77kg) and Wapda’s Nazia Aslam (86plus kg) and Nadia Maqsood (86kg).
In shooting, the Pakistan Navy added four more gold medals to their growing tally, while the Pakistan Army bagged two.
Furthermore, Karate events have also seen the Pakistan Army maintain supremacy in both men’s and women’s categories.
The Pakistan Army also dominated team sports, defeating Wapda to win gold in women’s football and women’s softball. They enjoyed an unbeaten run in the single-league football format.
Meanwhile, the Squash events have moved into the deciding stage with Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Mahnoor Ali and Pakistan Army’s Zainab reaching the women’s final, while Wapda’s Noor Zaman and Pakistan Army’s Huzaifa Ibrahim advanced to the men’s singles title match.
