INDONESIA: Pakistan’s Shahzeb Khan won the gold medal by defeating Calamba of the Philippines in the final of the -54kg weight category at the Asia Open Khyurogi Taekwondo Championship.

In the first round, Calamba scored 11 points and Shahzeb managed six. In the second round, Shahzeb played brilliantly and won by 10-3 and then won the third round 18-0 to win Pakistan’s first gold medal in the event. Earlier, Shahzeb qualified for the final by defeating Hidayat Tomakaka of Indonesia 12-14, 16-14 and 22-0 in the semi-final. Ikhtshamul Haq won  silver medal in (-87 kg) category on first day of international tournament while Maleeha Ali earned bronze medal in women’s category. He was narrowly defeated by Malaysia’s Zubair MS in final, with scores of 5-7 and 7-12.  In the +87 kg weight category final, Kablan of Kazakhstan won the gold medal by defeating Hamza Saeed of Pakistan by a margin of 5-1 and 4-4 points.

Meanwhile, Pakistan Olympic Association President Syed Abid Qadri, Secretary General Khalid Mahmood, Chairperson Special Olympics Pakistan Ronak Lakhani, Pakistan Taekwondo Federation President Col Waseem Janjua and CEO Omar Saeed congratulated Shahzeb for winning gold and Hamza Saeed for winning silver medals for Pakistan.