HANGZHOU: Pakistan’s debut at the current Asian Games on the track was disappointing as sprinter Shajar Abbas missed the semi-finals after placing third in the 200-meter heats on Sunday. Farhan Ilyas, however, was unable to complete the 110-meter hurdles heat.
Shajar, who advanced to the Commonwealth Games semifinals last year, was expected to perform even better at the continental spectacle. He, however, fell short by 0.20 seconds of moving on to the next round.
Pakistan continued to perform well in squash after taking home the silver medal in the team events, as Mohammad Asim Khan, Nasir Iqbal, and Noor-ul-Ain Ijaz each won their individual matches in the men’s and women’s singles tournaments.
Aaron Jon Widjaja of Singapore won the first set 4-11. Asim had to come back. To win the match, Asim won the following three games 11-9, 11-4, and 11-6. Natthapat Theerasilp of Thailand was no match for Nasir, who triumphed 11-7, 11-6, and 11-3.
Read more:Pakistan Defeats India, Advances to Squash Semi-finals in Asian Games
Khulan Purevjav of Mongolia was defeated by Noor in three straight sets (11-0, 11-4, 11-4).
However, India’s opponents defeated Pakistan in the mixed doubles. Noor Zaman and Mehwish Ali of Pakistan lost to Harinder Pal Singh Sandhu and Dipika Pallikal Karthik of India in the Pool ‘A’ match. 11-4, 11-1.
India’s Abhay Singh and Anahat Singh easily defeated Farhan Zaman and Sadia Gul in the Pool ‘D’ match 11-3, 11-2.
The Pakistani sportsmen also struggled in the archery competitions. Israr-ul-Haq placed 51st out of 84 competitors in the men’s recurve individual qualifying round with 634 points, while Mohammad Nadeem and Idrees Majeed came in at positions 76 and 77 with 596 and 594 points, respectively.
Nighat Naheed of Pakistan places 81st out of 84 competitors in the women’s category with 459 points.
