KARACHI: Pakistan Army tightened their grip on the medal table at the 35th National Games on Tuesday, completing a half-century of golds as competition heated up across multiple disciplines.
Providing context on a busy competition day, officials said the track and field schedule alone featured decisions in 12 gold-medal events at the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) facility in the city.
Pakistan Army’s Faryal Farooq delivered one of the standout performances in athletics, producing a 38.21-metre record throw to win the women’s discus title.
“This record was my target all year,” she said after securing gold for her department.
In the women’s javelin, Water and Power Development Authority’s (WAPDA) Fatima Hussain maintained her dominance with a 42.38-metre throw to claim yet another gold.
The track events saw Faiqa Riaz sprint to victory in the women’s 200 metres, earning her second gold of the Games, while WAPDA’s Iram Shehzadi topped the women’s 800 metres.
In hurdles, WAPDA’s Musarrat Shaheen clinched the women’s 400m title, with Army’s Mohammad Naeem winning gold in the men’s 110m hurdles.
Pakistan Army enjoyed further success in endurance and field events, with Qasim Faiz taking gold in the 20km race walk, Asif triumphing in men’s pole vault, and Waqas Akbar winning the men’s 800 metres.
In the women’s 5km walk, WAPDA’s Amara claimed top honours, while Higher Education Commission’s (HEC) Ummat-ur-Rehman secured gold in the triple jump.
Weightlifting commenced at Scout Headquarters, with four women’s categories decided. Gold medals went to Shafaq Waheed (48kg, WAPDA), Nida Fatima (53kg, Army), Arjumand Khan (58kg, Army) and Noor Fatima (63kg, Army).
HEC added another fencing gold through Karima Parveen, who defeated departmental teammate Faryal Shahid 15-13 in the women’s category.
Wrestling also began, with Pakistan’s star grappler Inam Butt securing gold on the opening day; WAPDA’s Junaid (57kg), Army’s Asadullah (79kg) and Punjab’s Abdullah (70kg) also topped their divisions.
In squash, Pakistan Army captured both the men’s and women’s team titles, beating WAPDA and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, respectively.
Swimming opened with Pakistan Army winning five women’s golds, while Sindh’s Hareem Malik added one more for her province.
In men’s swimming, Pakistan Army claimed five gold medals, while WAPDA earned one.
The shooting arena saw Pakistan Army’s gold tally climb to 11, with Navy following closely on nine.
Islamabad finally opened its account as its women’s tennis team defeated WAPDA 2-1 to secure the capital’s first gold of the event.
At the conclusion of the day, Pakistan Army lead medal standings with 71 golds, coupled with 29 silver and 18 bronze.
WAPDA remained second in the standings with 27 golds, followed by Pakistan Navy with 10.
Overall, the competition intensified across Karachi as departments continued their push for supremacy in Pakistan’s premier multi-sport spectacle.
