Punjab athletes clinch six gold and three silver medals in Inter-Provincial Games

Lahore: Sports Board Punjab athletes dominated the proceedings and won six gold and three silver medals on the opening day of First Quaid-i-Azam Inter-Provincial Games at Islamabad Sports Complex on Saturday.

Sports Board Punjab women karate team demonstrated wonderful game and captured four gold medals. Maimoona Qadeer clinched a gold medal in individual category while in team event Saira, Maimoona and Aysha Amjad grabbed three gold medals.

In judo event, SBP team also excelled and won two gold and as many silver medals in an overwhelming performance. SBP’s Ateeqa defeated Balochistan’s Saima to win gold medal in open category contest. Rafiq clinched another gold for SBP in 52 kg contest. He won his contest against Sajid of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP).

SBP’s Hannan bagged a silver medal when he lost the gold medal match against Fata’s Qaiser. Balochistan’s Ambreen also won gold medal against Punjab’s Mahnoor, who had to content with a silver after a tough fight.

In badminton competition, SBP girls won two singles contests against Gilgit Baltistan. In first match, Ghazala beat Gulnoor 3-2, 3-2 while Aleena emerged victorious against Kausar by 2-1. In badminton doubles, SBP’s Ghazala and Javeria thrashed Gulnoor and Deena by 2-1. After winning their matches, SBP women reached in the semifinal stage.

In women hockey event, SBP outclassed Gilgit Baltistan by a huge margin of 14-0 and booked a place in the final. Kalsoom netted a magnificent hat-trick and Aqsa also contributed three goals in the impressive triumph.

SBP men’s hockey team trounced Azad Kashmir by 6-0 and reached the semifinal on the opening day. Naqash and Awais struck two goals each while Amir and Ali Hamza scored one goal apiece.

SBP football defeated Azad Kashmir by 4-3 on penalty kicks after a thrilling competition. Shoaib, Umar, Waqas and Usman struck match-winning goals for Punjab. The match had finished on 0-0 after the stipulated time.

Sports Board Punjab tennis and volleyball teams also won their matches on the opening day.