LAHORE - Pakistan’s top notch taekwondo fighter Haroon Khan grabbed the gold medal in the -58kg category by exhibiting excellent skills against Mehadi Ishaq from Iran in the final of the Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Pakistan Open International Taekwondo (G-1) Championship at Pakistan Sports Complex, Islamabad.
In the decisive fight for gold, Haroon took 8-5 lead in the first round and further enhanced it to 17-12 in the second round. In the third and decisive round, the Iranian fighter changed the strategy and took six consecutive points to come closer to 22-20 but in the final 20 seconds, Haroon nabbed kicks to the head and body to win gold for Pakistan with 26-24 points.
The audience and organizers celebrated the wonderful victory of Pakistani player in final at Liaquat Gymnasium, where Haroon prostrated with his coach and Pakistani flag and thanked Almighty for his achievement. On the other side, Kazakhstan topped the table with four gold medals, Croatia secured second spot with two golds while Oman and Egypt claimed one gold medal each in the championship.
POA President Lt Gen (R) Syed Arif Hasan, along Khalid Mahmood, Kazakhstan’s Ambassador to Pakistan Yerzhan Kistafin, SATF President Omar Saeed, PTA President Lt Col (R) Wasim Ahmed Janjua, PTF Women Wing President Saba Shamim and other dignities also witnessed the final day competitions.
On this occasion, Arif Hasan lauded the efforts of the PTF chief for conducting the international event in a successful manner and also encouraged the athletes, who won medals in various categories in the championship.
In Male Events, Under-68 Kg (Feather Weight: Gold: Glasnovic (Croatia), Silver: Zain Hikmatullah (Afghanistan), Bronze: Mohammad Othman (Jordon), Eyad Barakat (Egypt), in Under-54 Kg (Fin Weight): Gold: Omer Sharaky (Egypt), Silver: Tenzeel Hasanat (Pakistan), Bronze: Ahmed Jawad Zazai (Afghanistan), Mohammad Atif Yaqoob (Afghanistan), in Under-87 (Middle Weight): Gold: Ali Al Hashmi (Oman), Silver: Mohammad Ashraf (Afghanistan), Bronze: Rahat Ullah (Pakistan), Mohammad Iqbal (Pakistan).
In Female Events, in Under-57 Kg (Feather Weight): Gold: Glasnovic Nikita (Croatia), Silver: Noor Rehman (Pakistan Green), Bronze: Aleem Anusha (Pakistan Air Force), Aqsa Shafqat (Pakistan WAPDA), in Under-46 Kg (Fin Weight): Gold: Aidana Yedibayeva (Kazakhstan), Silver: Asifa Ali (Pakistan), Bronze: Esha Safdar (Pakistan), Samrah Bibi (Pakistan), in Under-62 (Light Weight): Gold: Zahadyra Khairullina (Kazakhstan), Silver: Diana Absenove (Kazakhstan), Bronze: Iqra Javed (Pakistan), Zoya Sabir (Pakistan).
In Under-49 (Fly Weight): Gold: Nuray Bauyrzhanova (Kazakhstan), Silver: Iram Ali (Pakistan), Bronze: Kainat Kainat (Pakistan), Ravina Rasheed (Pakistan) and Under-73 (Middle Weight): Gold: Cansel Deniz (Kazakhstan), Silver: Ghulam Fatima (Pakistan), Bronze: Asia Iqbal (Pakistan), Ayesha Sajid (Pakistan).