National Games, 14-year-old Sadiq clinches gold in swimming

LAHORE: Making big progress, Punjab grabbed first gold medal of 34th National Games 2023 when 14-year-old swimmer Mohid Sadiq Lone clinched gold medal in mens 200m backstroke at the state of the art Punjab International Swimming Complex here on Friday.

Director General Sports Punjab Dr. Asif Tufail was the chief guest of the swimming event. He distributed medals among the players who also had group photos with the chief guest. Chairman Pakistan Swimming Federation Maj (retd) Wajid Wasim, Secretary Col (retd) Ahmed Ali Khan, Tournament Director and Referee Hafeez Bhatti, Senior Coach Rafi uz Zaman and other officials were also present on this occasion.

Mohid also became the youngest swimmer to win a gold medal in the National Games. Overall Punjab athletes won 34 medals including one gold medal in the ongoing National Games.

Speaking on the occasion , Director General Sports Punjab Dr Asif Tufail said that Mohid Sadiq is the youngest athlete to win a gold medal in a National Games swimming event. He is an asset to the country. Sports Board Punjab provided him training facility at Punjab International Swimming Complex due to which his game improved and today he won much wanted gold for Punjab, he added.

He said that Balochistan is hosting the 34th National Games 2023 in which the athletes from all over the country are participating but the swimming event has been assigned to Lahore. All the swimmers exhibited wonderful performances in their respective heats.

Dr. Asif Tufail said that for the promotion of swimming, Sports Board Punjab is going to build swimming complexes equipped with modern facilities at each divisional headquarters of Punjab. Gold medalist Mohid Sadiq Lone on this occasion said that he had prepared a lot for the National Games and thanks to Allah Almighty, I have got the reward of my hard work in the shape of a gold medal. Sports Board Punjab has given a lot of support for the preparation and provided every facility.

According to other results, Punjab’s Dayyan Kashif and Team Punjab also won bronze medals in 200m Breaststroke and 4×1000 medley Relay in the National Games swimming event. In weightlifting, Punjab’s Khadija Yousaf and Aysha Mumtaz won bronze medals in 49kg and 64kh weight categories respectively. In wushu, Punjab’s Mehreen clinched the bronze medal for her team.