LAHORE - Pakistan women Friday retained the Asian Games Women's Twenty20 Cricket gold medal after beating determined Bangladesh in a rain-hit final.
Pakistan, electing to bat after winning the toss, were restricted to 97-6 by the steady Bangladeshi bowling attack. Bismah Maroof was the top scorer with 24 runs. Bangladeshi leg-spinner Rumana Ahmed bowled brilliantly and chipped in with two wickets for 13 runs. Bangladesh, making a strong dash for the revised Duckworth-Lewis (D/L) target of 43 from seven overs following a heavy downpour during the break, scored 38-9 to lose by four runs.
Skipper Sana Mir, Sadia Yousuf and Nida Dar claimed two wickets each. In the bronze medal play-off, Sri Lanka routed China's modest 65-6 for the loss of five wickets in 17.1 overs. The men's cricket competition starts on Saturday without heavyweights India and Pakistan, both of whom opted to skip the competition.
PCB CHAIRMAN LAUDS TEAM’S PERFORMANCE: Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Shaharyar M Khan on Friday felicitated Pakistan women's team, captain Sana Mir, manager Ayesha Asher and PCB women's wing chairperson Bushra Aitzaz on retaining gold medal in the 2014 Asian Games.  In his message to team manager Ayesha Asher, the PCB chief said: “Pakistan women team's victory is a matter of pride for all of us, especially because it is our first gold medal in the ongoing Asian Games. "This is an important victory, in the sense that it shall provide great encouragement and boost to women's cricket in this country."
Meanwhile, PCB chief operating officer Subhan Ahmad also lauded Pakistan women team’s performance in final against Bangladesh. "The team was well-prepared and we were confident that after the recent tough tour of Australia immediately before the event, it shall maintain its top spot on the podium.”
SANAULLAH BEATS ALI ALQAHTANI 3-0 IN BOXING: Sanaullah of Pakistan outclassed K Ali Alqahtani on points 3-0 in the boxing men’s heavyweight 91kg round of 16. Sana was given 30-26, 30-27, 30-25 points by judges. The men’s bantamweight 56-kg round of 16 saw Shiva Thapa technically knocking out Nadar of Pakistan in the first round while Mustafa Alkasbeh of Jordan also technically knocked out Ali Ahmad of Pakistan in the third round of in men’s lightweight 60-kg round of 16.
PAKISTANI SHOOTERS DISAPPOINT WITH POOR SHOW: In shooting 25m centre fire pistol men’s competition, Ghulam Mustafa Bashir finished 10th with 580 points out of 28 contestants while Nadra Raeed accumulated 562 points to finish 38th among 40 competitors in the 50m rifle 3 positions women’s qualification.
POOR FINISH IN SWIMMING: Areeba Sheikh finished seventh among eight contestants with the time of 29.55 seconds in women’s 50m freestyle heat 3, the 3.97 off the pace from winner Yi Tang of China completed the distance with 25.58 to win the heat.
SAUDI ARABIA THRASH PAKISTAN IN VOLLEYBALL: Saudi Arabia beat Pakistan in straight sets 3-0. Saudis won the first set 25-15 in 90 minutes, second 25-20 in 23 minutes and third 25-23 in 26 minutes. SM Majed Aljahani scored 14 points for winners while M Abdulrahman Ahmed Albakhet scored 13 and M Abdulrahman Nawaf Albakheet mustered 12 points. For Pakistan, captain Naseer Ahmad and M Ismail Khan scored 10 points each.
M WASEEM FACES NORTH KOREAN BOXER TODAY: Pakistan boxing team captain M Waseem will take on Chungil RI of North Korea in round of 16 match today (Saturday) to defend his 52kg gold. In his message on a social website, Waseem said: “I will fight on September. I am already in round of 16, as I don't need to fight in qualifying rounds because in the last addition of Asian Games, I won gold medal. It is my request to the entire nation that they should remember me in their prayers, so that I may perform exceptional and help the country win gold medal.”
PAKISTAN HOCKEY TEAM SET TO TAKE ON OMAN: In hockey, Pakistan will vie against Oman in the last group stage match today. Pakistan has already qualified for the semi-finals of the Asian Games and close to defend its title. Talking to The Nation, head coach Shahnaz Shiekh said that the team trained for more than three hours under the watchful eyes of coaches for the match against Oman. “Although we have already qualified for the semifinals, but I don’t want my boys to get relaxed, as they must play this match too with great potential.”
MEN, WOMEN BADMINTON TEAMS TO BE SEEN IN ACTION TODAY: Pakistan men’s table tennis team will also be seen in action as they will face Macau and Japan in group c match today. The men team comprises M Asim Qureshi, M Rameez and Syed Saleem Abbas Qazi. The women team comprising Aisha Iqbal Ansari, Raheeli Kashif and Shameem Bilal will take on Mongolia and South Korea in group c match.
WRESTLING:
In men’s freestyle 57kg 1/8 final bout, Pakistan’s M Bilal will play against Ramil Rejepov of Turkmenistan.

MEDALS TABLE

Country    gold    silver    bronze    total
China    91    49    39    179
South Korea    31    37    36    104
Japan    30    42    35    107
Kazakhstan    8    9    17    34
North Korea    6    7    9    22
Iran    5    6    4    15
Taiwan    5    3    7    15
Hong Kong    4    5    17    26
Mongolia    4    3    6    13
Malaysia    2    5    6    13
Qatar    2    0    1    3
Myanmar    2    0    0    2
Vietnam    1    6    18    25
Singapore    1    3    7    11
Kuwait    1    3    2    6
India    1    2    14    17
Thailand    1    0    8    9
Pakistan    1    0    1    2
Uzbekistan    0    4    8    12
Indonesia    0    3    5    8
Macau    0    3    0    3
Philippines    0    2    1    3
Turkmenistan    0    1    2    3
Laos    0    1    1    2
Bangladesh    0    1    0    1
Lebanon    0    1    0    1
Iraq    0    0    1    1
Sri Lanka    0    0    1    1
United Arab Emirates    0    0    1    1