Pakistan's Performance and Participation in this year's Islamic Solidarity Games

Due to the Covid 19 pandemic, Islamic Solidarity Games, which were supposed to be held from 20th to
29th August 2021, were rescheduled to August 2022. However, since it's an international event, many
pandemic conditions of all the participant countries were kept in view.

It's an initiative started in 1981 by the then president of Youth Welfare of Saudi Arabia. The first event
took place in 2005 when people from 54 countries participated. It currently has 57 countries as its
members, which are directed and controlled by OIC and ISSF. The 2022 Islamic solidarity games were the
5th edition in Konya, Turkey. In this event, 4200 athletes from 54 countries participated in 28 games
with a medal count of 341. Pakistan also participated in the event with many achievements and few
disappointments.

Earlier this month, PSB reduced the contingent from 122 to 76 but tried to accommodate all the
athletes. Pakistan participated in athletics, judo, Archery, fencing, gymnastics, shooting, swimming, table
tennis, volleyball, weightlifting, wrestling, karate, swimming, and taekwondo at the event.

Archery

Pakistan selected five archers, including Umm-e-Kulsum and Kiran Muhammad. They made it to the top
thirty-two, while Sadia Mai cruised to the next round after defeating UAE's archer by 7-3. In the initial
game, Umm-e-Kulsoom got 560 points, Kiran scored 532 points, and Sadia received 492 points. Among
men, Nauman Saqib reached the round of thirty-two by winning against Kazakhstan's archer with a
score of 6-0, while unfortunately, Abdul Rahman Hafiz was defeated in the first round of elimination by
Kuwait's archer with a score of 6-5.

Athletics

In athletics, Pakistan decided to send eight of its most efficient athletes. In the men's 100-400m race
Shajar Abbas and Abdul Moeed participated, while Shajar Abbas made it to the top fifteen in the
semifinal. Jamshed Ali was among the ten participants who made it to the final level of men's shot put.
At the same time, Arshad Nadeem made Pakistan stand out in men's javelin throw by breaking all the
records and achieving a gold medal. Ahmed Randhawa, a national competitor in the 400-meter hurdle
race, was unable to perform effectively and was eliminated from the medal race. Arooj Kiran, a sprinter,
failed to advance to the next round after placing last in the 100-meter race.

Fencing

Pakistan sent only one fencer who couldn't perform well and was knocked out in the first round of the
Men's Epee event.

Swimming

Among six swimmers from Pakistan, Jahan Ara broke her national record by standing at 5th position,
while Bisma khan made it to the final round and remained at 8th. The former one clocked 1:02.11 while
Bismah completed in the span of 1:02.59. Both young girls were part of the team which won the
Women's 4x200m freestyle bronze medal in the Fourth Islamic Solidarity Games held in 2017 in Baku.
Weightlifting

Pakistan sent only three weightlifters to the event where Muhammad Nooh Dastagir Butt, despite his
ailment, reached the 4th position after getting a gold medal at the commonwealth games.

Table Tennis

Altaf ur Rahman, a differently abled player of four participants from Pakistan, won the bronze medal in
the para table tennis event, making Pakistan proud. Altaf had joined with Uzbekistan's Rasul Atamuratov
to contest in the men's class four competition, and both managed to win the bronze medal. The 23 years
old defeated Algeria 3-0 but couldn't win against Iran and Turkey.

Karate

In the sad state of affairs, none of the karatekas from Pakistan won in karate competitions at Islamic
solidarity games. However, the team consisted of great players like Saadi Abbas, the first-ever Asian
Champion in 2011, and also won a silver medal in Baku 2017 Islamic solidarity games. Among females,
the winning ratio was the same as none of them won the award. While Fakhr ul Nisa made it to the
quarter-finals in the women's -60kg category, she defeated Karateka of Cameroon in the first round. In
the type of 68+ weight, Kulsoom Hazara was defeated by a karateka from Morocco, while an athlete
defeated Nargis Hazara from Cameroon.

Volleyball

In volleyball, Pakistan was trounced by Turkey, the host country, in the 39th position in FIVB, while
Turkey was in the 17th. Pakistan was leading in the first and fourth rounds but couldn't win. It has also
failed against Iran with a score of 0-3 and against Qatar with a score of 2-3.

Wrestling

The Wrestling Squad of Pakistan faced the unfortunate event as Muhammad Inam Butt, who's made
Pakistan proud at different events by winning several gold and silver medals, couldn't participate in the
Islamic Solidarity Games due to a knee injury. As a result, Pakistan had a setback and could send only a
few of its good wrestlers, including Muhammad Asad Butt, Muhammad Bilal, and Nouman. They
performed inadequately in the challenging event where famous Islamic world grapplers participated.

Conclusion

The event had peaks and valleys for Pakistan as the fifth Islamic Solidarity Games concluded in Konya,
with 341 medals, including 145 gold, 107 silver, and 89 bronze on the medal table.

With Arshad Nadeem's javelin throw, Pakistan took 27th place and earned the only gold medal. The
closest Pakistani athlete to a medal was Nooh Dastgir Butt, who placed fourth.

Iran came in third with 39 gold medals out of a possible 133, followed by Uzbekistan in second place.
Imran Ali fell 2-0 in karate to a Saudi Arabian opponent on the fifth and final day of competition. He had
earlier lost to an Azerbaijani opponent to go to the semifinals. Against a Moroccan opponent, Kalsoom
also dropped.

Pakistan experienced some of its biggest letdowns due to Shah Hussain in Judo and Saadi Hussain in
karate, as these were knocked out in the first round of competition.
PM Shahbaz Sharif met the medalists in Islamabad to praise and appreciate their efforts in representing
and making Pakistan proud on international platforms. He also announced the cash prize for the winners
and encouraged them to do better in their fields by aiming for the highest rank.