Pakistan won a total of 10 gold medals in the 16th Special Olympics World Games, which concluded on Sunday in Berlin. The number of golds in Pakistan’s kitty increased after cyclist Safeer Abid clinched one in the 10km time trial race during the games’ cycling event. He completed the 10km distance in 23 minutes and 02.02 seconds. This was the first time that Safeer, who hails from Karachi, has participated in the World Games. The cyclist had been preparing for the special sporting event since the last two years, he said. “I have the passion to win more medals for Pakistan in the upcoming international events,” Safeer said. In the 500m time trial race, Madeeha Tahir of Pakistan won the silver medal by covering the distance in 1 minute and 14.15 seconds, while Amina Arshad won the bronze medal by covering the distance in 1 minute and 16.82 seconds.

 In the final of the futsal event, Oman won the gold medal by defeating Pakistan by 6-3 goals. Pakistan finished second with the silver medal. Pakistan stood fourth in women's doubles, men's singles and unified men's doubles of the tennis event. In the Bocce team event, Pakistan's Mahnoor, Simran Mahesh Lal, Jamilur Rahman and Farhan Aslam won the silver medal after defeating Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Farhan Aslam won the bronze medal in men's singles, and Mahnoor won the bronze medal in women's singles.

 Earlier, Pakistan’s Muhammad Luqman and Habibullah clinched gold medals to increase the country’s gold medals tally. Luqman bagged gold in the 100m race by clocking 15.21 seconds of timing. He also won a silver medal in the long jump. Meanwhile, in powerlifting, Habibullah won gold in the 83 kilogramme deadlift. He also won silvers in squat, bench press and combined weight. Mirwaiz won silver in the 3,000m race. He completed the distance in ten minutes and 11 seconds. Pakistan's hockey team won bronze by beating Paraguay 3-2 in the game for third place. This is the first time that Pakistan is featuring in hockey.

Credit : Independent News Pakistan-INP