LAHORE: Defending champions Lahore with 12 gold medals led the 72nd edition of Punjab Games as competitions on the third day of the provincial gala continued here on Friday.

Lahore so far have claimed 12 gold, four silver and eight bronze medals in the nine-division contests. They are followed by second-placed Sahiwal (eight gold, four silver and five bronze) and Faisalabad, placed third (six gold, 12 silver and 14 bronze). In terms of overall number of medals won, Faisalabad are leading with a tally of 32.

Rawalpindi (15 medals including six gold, five silver and four bronze) are fourth while Gujranwala (20 medals) are fifth.

Multan, Bahawalpur and Sargodha are lying in sixth, seventh and eighth spots, respectively with a tally of 10 medals each. Dera Ghazi Khan is the only division which is yet to claim a gold medal. They are at the bottom of the table with two silver medals.

In the games held on Friday, Sahiwal clinched badminton team event gold medal after beating Lahore 2-1 in the final. Rawalpindi claimed bronze medal as they outplayed Gujranwala 2-0.

Faisalabad scooped kabaddi gold, defeating Sargodha 41-18 in the final.

In table tennis, girls’ singles final, Lahore’s Parniya blanked compatriot Kalsoom 3-0. In the third-position match, Ayesha of Faisalabad toppled Sahiwal’s Amna 3-0.

Girls from Lahore also excelled in women’s doubles event as the pair of Parniya and Kulsoom defeated Rawalpindi’s Natasha and Huma 3-1.

In the boys’ weightlifting, Azaan Ali of Gujranwala won the 73kg title while the second and third positions were claimed by Hamza Ashfaq of Lahore and Faisalabad’s Asghar Ali. The 89kg title was won by Lahore’s Abdur Rehman followed by second-placed Mohammad Saqib Saeed while third spot was seized by Ghulam Rasool.

Meanwhile, Bahawalpur and Faisalabad comfortably overpowered their respective opponents in the boys’ hockey semi-finals staged at the National Hockey Stadium. Bahawalpur thrashed Sargodha 7-4 while Faisalabad routed Sahiwal 7-1.

In boys’ football, Sahiwal defeated Faisalabad 5-3 in shootout at DPS Football Ground, Model Town. Earlier, both the teams were locked 1-1 in the stipulated time. In another football match, Sargodha edged out Gujranwala 1-0 with Farhan scoring the goal.

In women athletics, Faiqa Riaz of Lahore was declared the fastest athlete in 100m race. Eesha of Faisalabad and Turab Zahra finished second and third, respectively.

Separate events for transgenders also started.

In chaati race, Komal earned first position while Reema and Asiya finished second and third, respectively. The sack race title went to Khushboo who was followed by Lado Rani and Sana.

Transgender players exhibited a thrilling performance in tug-of-war, in which ‘A’ team defeated ‘B’ team 2-0.

Published in Dawn, April 6th, 2019