On Friday, Pakistan’s wrestling squad had two gold medals within grasp at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham. In the end, they only received two silver medals for their efforts.
Following the failure of the country’s leading hope, Mohammad Inam, in the much-anticipated Indo-Pak duel for the +86kg title, Zaman Anwar was pinned in the +125kg final at the Coventry Arena.
Their silver medals added to the bronze medal won earlier in the +65kg division by compatriot Inayatullah, bringing Pakistan’s medal count to five so far at the Games.
If Shajar Abbas makes the podium in the men’s 200m final on Saturday, Pakistan might win another medal. After finishing third in the preliminary round, the 22-year-old sprinter earned a ticket in the final.
Weightlifter Nooh Dastagir Butt has delivered the only gold for Pakistan and there were high hopes that Inam would add another winners’ medal.
But the 33-year-old, who was imperious at the previous edition of the Games in Australia, couldn’t repeat that feat when he lost 3-0 to Indian rival Deepak Punia in the final.
Inam looked far from his best throughout the duel against Punia, 10 years his junior, as he was booked for passivity early before the Indian successfully pushed his opponent out of the ring to take a 2-0 lead.
Both wrestlers were largely defensive in the bout but Inam did make a last effort to make a comeback despite clearly gasping for breath, only for Punia to easily thwart the same and get on top of him.
Inam had won his opening quarter-final bout against Australian Jayden Lawrence on points (8-3) before recording a come-from-behind 5-3 semi-final win over Edward Lessing of South Africa.
