Sports
Record-breaking Faryal Farooq sets alight National Games
The sun burned with a fierce, summer-like intensity on the winter morning but it couldn’t temper the spirit of the competitors gunning for glory at the National Games on Tuesday.
The open field at the athletics venue hummed with simultaneous action — discus flying in one sector, hurdlers pacing in another. On the track, athletes bobbed and stretched, their shadows short under the midday blaze. In the stands, a scattered crowd fanned themselves, eyes darting between events.
The pool offered some respite from the blazing sun as swimming began at the Games on a day headlined by Commonwealth Games gold medallist Inam Butt extending his remarkable legacy by clinching his 18th national title — the most by any wrestler — and a national record for discus thrower Faryal Farooq.
Faryal’s feat was the culmination of a four-years effort; those long days of lonely training meeting minutes of razor-edged opportunity.
Through her first four throws, she was nowhere near the mark. The record, it seemed, would elude her once more.
Then, before her final attempt, her coach Ashraf Ali leaned in and told her he would be proud if she breaks the record.
Those words lit up the fire. Faryal spun, released, and the discus sailed — a silent arc against the blue clear sky. Every eye followed it until it thudded into the earth, well beyond the previous best. The official announced 38.21 meters — a new national record.
The crowd erupted. For Faryal, from Azad Jammu and Kashmir, it was ecstasy, the triumphant end of a quest.
“After hearing my coach’s words, I put everything into the final throw,” she told Dawn, breathless. “We get few opportunities to compete throughout the year, so I train all year for one event and try to leave my heart out in the field.”
While Faryal’s moment shone brightest, other stories unfolded across the scorched field, each adding a different hue to the day’s tapestry.
In the women’s 400m hurdles, Musarrat Shaheen of Wapda, hailing from Mianwali in Punjab, powered through the last 100 meters to claim gold.
Her smile afterwards was bright, but her words were sobering.
“It’s a killer sport,” she said while talking to Dawn, referring to the constant risk of injury.
Her hurdles weren’t just on the track. “Where I am from, there is that backward thinking that girls should stay in the house. Thankfully my family is supportive.”
For Qasim Fayyaz of the Army, from Chiniot, the 20km walk race was a battle against the clock and the elements. He finished seven minutes behind of his personal best, due to the extreme weather.
His routine reveals the brutal behind-the-scenes sacrifice: 90km of road running per week, twice-daily gym sessions in winter. “The body gets fatigued… We get very little time to rest. Focus on diet, which is very integral, is also not much.”
The drama of endurance played out differently in the men’s 400m hurdles, where Abid Razzak staged a late surge to snatch gold.
For most of the race, his Army team-mate Tajammul Hussain (silver) was on his neck, but Razzak hung on his shoulder. As the second-placed athlete faded in the final metres, Razzak pounced, edging ahead at the line.
“I practiced more than my team-mate — I guess those hours in training paid off today,” Razzak, who participated in the 2019 Asian Games, told Dawn. “This was my sixth national medal and hopefully there are more to come.”
Then there was the pure class of Olympian Faiqa Riaz. After winning the 100m the day before, she edged out HEC’s Khoula Umer Khan by a mere tenth of a second in the 200m, finishing in 25.10 seconds.
So intense was the effort that she collapsed onto the track afterwards, a world-class athlete laid low by the fight on home soil.
Earlier in the day, Wapda’s Iram Shehzadi had dominated the women’s 800m, while in the field, Amtul Rehman of HEC leapt to gold in the triple jump.
ARMY’S AQUATIC RULE
If the athletics arena was a stage for personal struggle, the swimming pool nearby was a display of sheer systemic dominance.
For a unit representing the armed forces on land, Army sure knew how to rule the waters. Their men’s team bagged only gold and silver in every event — 11 medals without a single bronze — while their women opened the day with five golds and a bronze.
Leading the charge were Olympians, past and present.
Paris Olympian Jehanara Nabi and Tokyo veteran Bismah Khan bagged two individual golds each, then teamed up to cruise to first in the women’s 4x100m relay.
Jehanara, the Lahore-born all-rounder now based in the UK, stormed to gold in the 400m Individual Medley a full 35 seconds ahead of her rivals.
Her Paris team-mate, the soft-spoken Ahmed Durrani — now based in Dubai — mirrored that with two individual golds and a relay win.
“I haven’t really tapered for this event, it’s more of a warm-up competition for me,” he told Dawn off-handedly, a quiet statement of his calibre.Yet, even in this procession of Army, there were flashes of defiance. Hamza Asif disrupted the perfect winning streak to claim the men’s 100m freestyle gold.
And Hareem Malik emerged as Sindh’s saviour, snatching the province’s only swimming gold in the women’s 200m breaststroke.
“It always means a lot when you can win for your team, that too with such high stakes,” the national record holder told Dawn, though she admitted a crammed season and exams had clouded her training.
Army had another triumph on the tennis court, where they downed arch-rivals Wapda — led by the legendary Aqeel Khan — 2-1.
Wapda lost the women’s team final by the same scoreline to Islamabad.
INAM’S 18TH GOLD
Inam claimed the 92kg freestyle gold with his Wapda team-mate Junaid Khan winning in the 57kg. The 70kg crown was shared by Punjab’s Abdullah and Army’s Baber Shah. Army’s Asadullah secured gold in the 79kg category.
In shooting, Navy enjoyed a strong outing as Aqib Latif won the 10m Air Rifle men’s individual gold, while Rasam Gul clinched the 25m pistol women’s gold. Olympian Kishmala Talat settled for silver for Army.
Navy also captured the women’s 25m pistol team title through Rabia Kabir, Rasam Gul and Lubna Amin.
Army secured the 10m Air Rifle men’s team gold, courtesy Sarfraz Gul, Mohammad Uzman and Sulaiman Khan.
In gymnastics, Wapda topped the standings with 264.95 points, followed by Army (260.05) and Higher Education Commission (HEC) (214.10).
Wapda’s Shah Jehan dominated the men’s individual apparatus finals, taking gold in the Rings and High Bar, while sharing the Floor title with Punjab’s M. Waqas.
Wapda’s Mohammad Afzal claimed gold in the Parallel Bars and jointly in the Vault alongside team-mate Shehzad Ali. HEC’s Faizan won the Pommel Horse.
In women’s fencing, HEC’s Kareema secured gold in the sabre-style event, while Balochistan’s Barira triumphed in the foil-style final.
In sailing, Navy and the Pakistan Air Force won the J80 Fleet Racing and J80 Match Racing gold medals, respectively.
AN ECHOING CALL
Beneath the individual medals and across disciplines, a collective refrain echoed — a stark reminder of the chasm between heart and support system.
Back on the field, Fatima, the javelin gold medalist from Faisalabad, pointed to the very tools of her trade.
“The international-level javelins are very expensive. We don’t have them here,” she revealed while talking to Dawn.
Her best throw of 42.38m was solid, but she knows the world touches 65 meters.
Waqas Akbar of Army, who dominated the men’s 800m from Vihari, praised the “fast track” in Karachi but lamented, “We didn’t get these types of track in our hometown or in the camps… If we get more hard tracks like these in training, we can be even better.”
From the pole vault pit, Mohammad Asif of Sargodha, who came within 14cm of a national record, simply said, “I really wanted to break it… I am now eyeing the next meet.”
The sentiment was clear: the ambition is there, the talent is visible, but the path is made steeper by what’s missing — whether it’s equipment, tracks or competitive exposure.
FALLING AND RISING
As the sun began to dip, the last track events concluded. In the 110m hurdles, Army’s Mohammad Naeem from Qasoor secured gold, crediting the rivalry with his team-mate for bringing out his best.
For him, the event was a metaphor bigger than a medal.
“It’s the test of pure grit,” he told Dawn. “More important than a medal is that you complete and do your best. You fall and get up, and that’s what really matters.”
His words lingered in the evening air, as the empty field and quiet pool settled into dusk. The athletes had given their all — some broke records in the sand and water, some broke personal barriers on the track, all confronted the gaps they cannot bridge alone.
They fell, they got up, and for one more day, they rose. The heat would return tomorrow. So would they.
It takes a village to raise a child, and, in the case of Hamza Asif, it took a village to raise a national record holder.
The “village” in question is Faisalabad, where Hamza is already something of a local celebrity. Most of Pakistan’s top swimmers were produced by Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad, and then international quarters far and wide. Hamza’s roots came to the forefront when his triumph in the 50m freestyle in 2023 earned him the nickname of “The Rocket” since the event denotes the fastest aquatic Pakistani.
It was in Faisalabad where he was shuttled to and from 5am swim practices by his grandparents, nurtured by Imran Nazir at the Chenab Club. When he began swimming at the age of six, it was his mother who would pace the edge of the pool teaching him the basics of the sport, much to the disapproval of conservative men who were uncomfortable by her presence. It did not faze her.
The country’s textile hub does not have a 50m pool, whose single lap he completed in historic fashion on Wednesday afternoon to set a new national record in the men’s 50m breaststroke.
He became the first Pakistani ever to swim the event under 30 seconds as he clocked 29.99.
If you froze the moment in time and examined it, you could see exactly where and how this monumental feat materialised. His mother bent down in prostration immediately after to offer thanks for her son’s victory. She has devoutly prayed for him always, “but Hamza has the prayers of so many people,” she told Dawn after his triumph.
Well before the well-wishes drenched the happy parents and sister at the KMC Swimming Pool, snide parents offered a cold shoulder when Hamza’s mother reached out for contact information of a coach for him when he was younger. “He’s from Faisalabad” was said with snarky undercurrents.
His younger sister and mother ping-ponged the exact defining moments in his career so far.
“He wrote in a school essay once that he wanted to be Pakistan’s fastest swimmer,” the proud mother said with teary eyes.
“I had to convince my parents to let me come to Karachi to watch Hamza bhai’s race!” his sister chuckled. She even wrote about his early sporting victories for a magazine once.
It was as though the universe had convinced the family that Hamza was on the cusp of sporting excellence, and everyone must be there to witness it. Both sets of maternal and paternal grandparents were immediately video called to be given the good news and digitally bring them into the moment. The tech-savvy grandparents are also swimming-savvy, understanding the technicalities of the sport and following Hamza every step of the way.
Hamza’s mother credited her super sports star father with being Hamza’s inspiration for continuously pushing the boundaries of greatness.
He pushed the boundaries and knocked on the door of Bard Foundation, a non-profit dedicated to financially supporting athletes throughout their journey with strict selection criteria. While the organisation typically has focused on squash and tennis players and mountaineers, it took a chance on the aquatic species and welcomed Hamza to the family.
“Thank you for trusting me,” 19-year-old Hamza said to Mehreen Dawood when he finally emerged in the audience stands to thunderous applause and “shabbash shabbash!” from teammates. He melted into the arms of his mother when he finally met her and his father, then going straight to childhood coach Imran for another bearhug.
Mehreen, member of the board of governors of the foundation, was largely speechless when asked how she felt about taking a chance on him.
“Ecstatic,” she told Dawn before adding that Hamza was a wonderful person overall. His meticulous attention to detail while training, the way he conducted himself, the way he straddled the line between humility and confidence was what convinced Mehreen that he was a semi-cut diamond in need of the highest-grade polishing.
The Bard Foundation’s support sent Hamza to Thailand for training, which he credited as being foundational to his initial improvement, which later opened the doors of University of Tennessee, Southern as the university offered him a scholarship to study and swim with them.
“My coach has worked hard on me in these past few months,” Hamza told Dawn after the day concluded.
“We’ve been training for this very event, and I was expecting the record,” he said with quiet confidence.
Mehreen, the Bard Foundation and Activit were the latest to join Hamza’s village of support, all of whom Hamza expressed gratitude to.
“Behind my journey are my parents, and I cannot thank them enough,” the teenager said, his words loaded with a love you can tell he’s carried all his life. He looked something like a powerful Greek god with his curly hair and the afternoon sun shining down on him like a spotlight for his unthinkable moment.
“Special thanks to my team, my coach, and everyone who believed in me, and thank you so much everyone.” Hamza’s gratitude to his university was equally magnanimous as their adoration of him.
“We are so proud of Hamza and proud to call him a FireHawk,” the varsity wrote for him on social media after he claimed gold in the 100m freestyle on Tuesday.
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In an earlier post this summer on Hamza’s arrival in the fall class, the varsity said he will “make an immediate impact to our men’s team, and will primarily swim sprint [freestyle] for the FireHawks”.
And yet, his first individual national record was in the breaststroke sprint. He lived up to the university’s hype and immediately stormed to gold in the men’s 50m freestyle just minutes later in 23.66, a full second faster than the second place finisher. He had single-handedly won all of Wapda’s gold medals thus far.
“I’m aiming for more records in the future, this event was a benchmark for me.
“This is just the start — I’m coming for more,” he grinned with authoritative confidence and faith in himself.
Just as Mehreen had put his faith in him, Hamza had put his faith in Allah, first and foremost.
“We do the best we can, and the rest, we leave to Him,” his father said as he pointed a finger and looked up to the sky.
At the 35th National Games, the story of sport has so often been of sheer will against long odds.
But on Wednesday, the narrative splintered into two distinct, dazzling truths: one written in the chronometric perfection of chlorinated water, the other etched in the sun-baked sand of the long jump pit.
In the pool, a digital clock froze at a number never before seen in Pakistan: 29.99 seconds.
On the track, a measuring tape confirmed a distance of 5.52 metres, sealing a historic triple crown.
The third day of the competitions belonged to 19-year-old swimmer Hamza Asif, who shattered a time barrier and a 26-year-old Olympian who shattered expectations, proving that national sporting history can be made in parallel universes.
The sun played the role of spotlight over the swimming arena, its zenith aligning with the men’s 50m breaststroke final.
The audience was on its feet, phone cameras held horizontally. In lane six was Rayan Awan, the national record holder in the event.
The buzzer sounded. Seven swimmers flew off the blocks, emerging from shadow into liquid light. It was not Rayan, but Wapda’s Hamza who touched first.
After a wait of several seconds, a cluster of red numbers appeared. A voice screamed from the stands: “National record! National record!” Hamza had done the unthinkable — he became the first Pakistani to swim the event in under 30 seconds.
Rayan, in a gracious twist of fate, also improved his personal time (30.55) for silver. But this was Hamza’s moment.
Race-mates reached over lane lines to high-five the teenager, who trains at the University of Tennessee. His father was hugged tight by proud men; his mother bent down in prostration.
“My coach has worked hard on me, we’ve been training for this very event and I was expecting the record,” a remarkably composed Hamza, who would later top off his day with another gold in the 50m freestyle, told Dawn.
As the aquatic celebrations subsided, the searing Karachi sun refocused its attention on the track and field stadium.
Here, Faiqa Ilyas, the Wapda sprinter and Pakistan’s representative at the Paris 2024 Olympics, was chasing a different kind of immortality.
She had already secured the 100m and 200m golds. Now, she stood at the long jump runway for her final attempt.
A brief, taut silence followed her leap. She locked eyes with the technical official.
The winning distance was announced. A yell of pure, unfiltered joy erupted.
Faiqa put her hands on her head, knowing the gold — and a historic third individual title — was hers. When the last competitor failed to match it, she collapsed into the arms of her coaches.
“I thought I had to settle for a silver today,” Faiqa confessed to Dawn. “But on my last attempt, I was like it’s do or die and I ran with my full strength for the jump.”
Her main target had always been the 100m, the event she trained for most intensely. The 200m and long jump were audacious, successful experiments.
Her triumph, however, is framed by the stark realities of Pakistani sport. Managing two distinct disciplines is a complex science.
“For jumps, training for explosive [power] I do with sprint. But run-up is the main issue… in sprint you need speed while in long jump you need more control with speed,” she explained, noting she doesn’t train specifically for jumps to protect her sprinting prowess.
THE SUPPORTING CAST
The day’s drama was not confined to these twin peaks. The penultimate day of the athletic meet began in the pre-dawn dark at Mazar-e-Quaid, with the marathoners setting off on their 42.195km odyssey, where Navy’s Shahbaz Masih claimed marathon gold in 2:25:23.6 — almost four minutes ahead of his nearest rival Wapda’s Sher Khan.
Elsewhere on the track and field of the NPT&SC, Army’s Mohammad Akhtar executed a perfectly timed final burst in the men’s 10,000m, roaring past Wapda’s Mohammad Irfan in the last 150 metres to claim gold.
The women’s 100m hurdles saw a thrilling mid-race shift, as Wapda’s Ghazala Ramzan edged ahead of her department-mate Amina Saeed to secure the top spot.
The men’s 4x100m relay provided a thrilling finale, with Wapda clinging to a razor-thin lead against a charging Army team in a photo finish.
The event, however, was marred by controversy as the Sindh team failed to field a squad, citing a lack of communication from their absent manager and grievances over unpaid daily allowances.
In the field, Uzma Azan (Wapda) added to her department’s gold haul in the hammer throw, while Army’s Waqas Akbar cruised to victory in a tactical men’s 1500m.
Over in the pool, 13-year-old Riah Mirza won her first national medal —gold— in the women’s 100m backstroke in 1:16.50, a personal record for the teenager.
Watching, with pride in her eyes, was her mother Shaan Kandawalla, who swam at the first national women’s championships 30 years ago.
“My mom’s my inspiration,” Riah said. “And she’s mine,” Shaan replied, kissing her forehead. “I hope she now gets a chance to swim internationally, which I never got a chance to do.”
The waves of victory kept coming. Jehanara Nabi and Ahmed Durrani (800m and 200m freestyle) added multiple individual golds.
Mishael Hayat Ayub won Wapda’s first aquatics gold medal in the women’s 100m butterfly in 1:11.12.
Ayesha Zeeshan followed it up with a gold in 50m freestyle (28.69), while earlier in the day Hareem Malik won Sindh’s second gold in the 50m breaststroke, coming moderately close to breaking her own national record in the event.
Ali Mitha won Sindh’s first gold on the men’s side in 1:01.64.
Army’s other individual gold was won by Syed Daniyal Hatim in the 100m butterfly, where he’s the record holder, with 57.72.
FOOTBALL FRACAS
Aside from the sporting glories, the men’s football event descended into a farce after a violent brawl during a heated semi-final clash between Army and Wapda at the KPT Sports Complex.
A heated exchange, after Army won 4-3, flared into a full-scale brawl, culminating in players allegedly forcing their way into the officials’ room and assaulting the referee. A detailed report is being prepared, with disciplinary action expected against both sides.
In judo, Pakistan Air Force (PAF) emerged as the leading force, with Mohammad Saleem (-50kg), Olympian Shah Hussain Shah (-110kg) and Sadaqat Ali (-66kg) all securing gold, while Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s Syed Faisal Shah (-55kg) and Navy’s Akhas (-60kg) also topped their categories.
In the women’s events, PAF continued their strong showing through Naseema (-40kg) and Iram Shahzadi (-48kg), with Wapda’s Fozia Yasir (+70kg) and Navy’s Areeba Ameer (-44kg) claiming titles.
Taekwondo kyorugi saw Army dominate the mats, with Haroon (U-58kg), Arbaz Khan (U-68kg) and Ikhtasham-ul-Haq (U-87kg) winning the men’s titles, while Fateema (U-49kg) and Sarah (U-67kg) claimed gold for Army in the women’s events.
Badminton belonged emphatically to Wapda, who swept both the men’s and women’s team event finals.
In the men’s final, Wapda outclassed Army 3-1 with standout performances from Mohammad Ali Larosh and Irfan Saeed. The women’s final was even more one-sided, as Mahoor Shahzad led Wapda to a clinical 3-0 victory.
In softball, Pakistan Army edged Wapda 9-6 to secure the gold medal, while Wapda were crowned overall bodybuilding champions, claiming eight gold medals to continue their dominance in strength sports.
In tug of war, Pakistan Railways claimed gold in the men’s category, while Wapda secured the women’s title.
At the PNS Karsaz range, Navy’s shooters shone brightly. Hadiqa Iqbal took gold in the women’s 50m rifle event, while Navy swept the team category as well.
Abdul Qudoos also delivered gold in the 25m standard pistol, with the Navy team repeating that success. Army’s Colonel Farrukh Nadeem topped the individual trap event.
In wrestling, Wapda extended their grip on the medals table with gold medals for Hammad Butt (61kg) and Inayatullah (74kg), while Army’s Haider Ali delivered a strong performance to win the 86kg title.
The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has raised the valuation of all six existing Pakistan Super League (PSL) franchises to nearly three times their previous prices, and has also set a hefty base price of Rs1.30 billion per year for each of the two new franchises, well-placed sources told Dawn.
The PCB has not yet issued an official announcement regarding the revised valuations, diverging from the practice adopted at the league’s launch in 2016.
However, sources privy to the development said the new prices represent an almost threefold increase. Unlike 2016, when franchise prices were quoted in US dollars, the board has now shifted all league-related financial dealings to Pakistani rupees.
In the inaugural season, Quetta Gladiators — champions of the 2019 edition — were the lowest-valued franchise with an annual fee of USD 1.1 million for a 10-year ownership period. At the time, the exchange rate stood at Rs105 per dollar, compared to over Rs280 today.
According to sources, Quetta Gladiators once again carry the lowest valuation among the existing teams, now priced at around Rs360 million per year.
The valuation of Peshawar Zalmi — winners of the 2017 edition — has climbed to approximately Rs480 million per year, up from their earlier price of USD 1.6 million.
Karachi Kings, the 2020 champions, have been priced at Rs650 million per year compared to their earlier USD 2.6 million valuation.
Lahore Qalandars — winners of the 2022, 2023 and 2025 editions — will now cost Rs670 million per year, marginally higher than Karachi Kings, up from their previous USD 2.5 million valuation.
Multan Sultans, who joined the league after the first two editions and initially held the highest price tag at USD 6.3 million, have received a revised valuation of Rs1.08 billion per year.
The franchise, which clinched the 2021 title, changed ownership earlier after previous owner Ali Tareen publicly criticised the PCB over various administrative matters related to the league. All other franchises have retained their ownership rights for the next 10 editions.
Sources added that the PCB has not increased the annual player budget for the franchises, which remains capped at USD 1.4 million per team.
The PCB has held a roadshow in London to attract investors for the two new franchises as well as for Multan Sultans.
The board has shortlisted six cities — Rawalpindi, Faisalabad, Sialkot, Hyderabad, Muzaffarabad and Gilgit — from which two will be finalised to expand the PSL to eight teams. Despite the international roadshow, the PCB has no plans to hold similar events domestically to draw local investors.
However, the board announced on Wednesday that it is going to host a roadshow in New York City on Saturday.
According to a PCB press release, the New York event is part of the board’s global outreach strategy to engage international investors ahead of the auction of two new PSL franchises, scheduled January 6 next year.
The initiative is intended to showcase the league’s commercial strength, global following, and long-term growth potential.
Six Pakistan men’s team players are set to participate in the USA event, including T20I captain Salman Ali Agha, along with Abrar Ahmed, Faheem Ashraf, Saim Ayub, Shan Masood, and Saud Shakeel.
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