KARACHI – Hosted by Sindh, the 35th National Games concluded with defending champions Pakistan Army maintaining a clear lead. The Pakistan Army successfully defended its title and won the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy for the 30th consecutive time.
The closing ceremony will be held on Saturday at the National Stadium. During the ceremony, athletes and officials from the 14 participating contingents will take part in a march-past and salute the chief guest. Afterwards, the Games will be officially declared closed. A colourful ceremony and fireworks display will also be part of the event.
Pakistan WAPDA once again finished as runners-up this year, while Pakistan Navy secured third place.
After 18 years, Sindh hosted the Games across 26 venues in Karachi, featuring 32 sports with a total of 14 participating contingents. These included seven departmental teams: defending champions Pakistan Army, Pakistan Navy, PAF, WAPDA, Higher Education Commission, Pakistan Police, and Pakistan Railways; along with the four provinces—Sindh (host), Punjab, Balochistan, and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa—plus Gilgit-Baltistan, Azad Jammu & Kashmir, and the federal capital Islamabad.
Meanwhile, on Saturday, Pakistan Army continued to dominate. In the baseball final, Army defeated WAPDA, while Khyber Pakhtunkhwa secured third place. Army won 12 medals in the men’s and women’s boxing events. The defending champions secured a total of 12 gold medals in both categories.
Pakistan Army won the overall trophy by taking first place with five gold and four silver medals in the men’s events, and seven gold and one silver medal in the women’s events. Navy finished second in the men’s category with three gold, two silver, and two bronze medals, while WAPDA secured third place with two gold, two silver, and three bronze medals.
In the women’s category, HEC secured second place with one gold, one silver, and four bronze medals, while Navy stood third with two silver and four bronze medals. WAPDA finished sixth with one silver and one bronze, whereas Punjab took fifth place with two silver and two bronze medals. Sindh’s male boxers secured one silver and one bronze, finishing fifth, while none of Sindh’s female boxers won a medal.
The men’s football event was won by PAF, who defeated Pakistan Army 0–1 with the winning goal scored by Samad. WAPDA claimed bronze by beating Pakistan Navy. In women’s football, Pakistan Army defeated WAPDA by one goal, with Sindh securing third place. Army also won the karate championship with 10 gold medals. In the men’s finals, Army karatekaz took first place with six gold and two silver medals; WAPDA stood second with two gold, two silver, and three bronze; Punjab third with one gold, two silver, and two bronze; and KP fourth with one gold and three bronze.
In the women’s category, Army again topped the table with four gold, three silver, and one bronze medals. Punjab finished second with two gold and three bronze; Balochistan third with one gold, two silver, and three bronze; Sindh fourth with one gold, two silver, and two bronze; and WAPDA fifth with one gold and two bronze medals.
Pakistan Army won the general trophy of the table tennis tournament. Huwar Fawad won the women’s title and Ahmed Sajid won the men’s title. In mixed doubles, Punjab’s Owais and Kulsoom emerged champions. In the exhibition sport of throwball, KP defeated Punjab in the men’s event, KP defeated Balochistan, and Sindh beat Gilgit-Baltistan.
In the women’s throwball matches, Sindh defeated KP, Pakistan Railways defeated Punjab, and Pakistan Navy beat Pakistan Railways.
For the first time in the history of the Games, kickboxing was held as an exhibition event. The participation of para-athletes from KVTC made the event even more remarkable.
In the exhibition paddle events, Sindh won the men’s and women’s titles. The men’s event was won by the pair of Hishish Kumar and Prabhat Kumar, while the women’s event was won by Natalia Zaman and her partner. In badminton singles, WAPDA’s Irfan Saeed defeated fellow WAPDA player M. Ali Larosh to take the title. Larosh settled for silver.
The women’s singles title was won by WAPDA’s Mahoor Shahzad, who beat Army’s Alija Tariq. In men’s doubles, Army’s Raja Hasnain and Raja Zulqarnain beat WAPDA’s M. Ali Larosh and Owais Zahid. In women’s doubles, Army’s Amara Ishtiaq and Alija Tariq defeated WAPDA’s Ghazala Siddiq and Mahoor Shahzad.
In mixed doubles, Army’s Raja Muhammad Hasnain and Amara Ishtiaq defeated WAPDA’s M. Ali Larosh and Ghazala Siddiq. Army won the shooting championship with 17 gold, 16 silver, and 5 bronze medals. Navy secured second place with 15 gold, 12 silver, and 13 bronze medals. PAF won three silver and eight bronze; Sindh won one gold and two silver; and HEC took home four bronze medals.
On Saturday, in the 50m Rifle P3 men’s event, Pakistan Navy’s Aqib Latif won gold, while Muhammad Usman took silver and Ghufran Adil won bronze—both from Navy. In the team event, Army won gold, Navy silver, and PAF bronze. In the 25m Center Rifle Pistol event, Army’s Umar Farooq took gold, while Navy’s Maqbool Hussain and Abdul Qadoos won silver and bronze.
In the team event, Navy took gold, Army silver, and PAF bronze. In double trap, Army’s Lt. Col. Farrukh Nadeem won gold, Col. (R) Aamir Iqbal took silver, and Navy’s Ubaidullah won bronze. In the team event, Army secured gold, Navy silver, and PAF bronze.
