Pakistan sports in 2024: The highs and lows

As the curtains closed on 2024, Pakistan's sporting landscape was left beaming with pride, thanks to the phenomenal achievements of its brightest stars. And among them, one name shone brighter than the rest - Arshad Nadeem, the trailblazing javelin thrower who etched his name in history by clinching an Olympic gold medal, sending the nation into raptures.

The 27-year-old athlete from Mian Channu managed a record throw of 92.97 meters at Paris last summer to lift the historic gold for the nation which mostly suffered in rest of the sports disciplines.

This was the first gold medal of Pakistan at the Olympics in the last 40 years. The previous gold had come way back in 1984 when Pakistan hockey team had secured it in the Los Angeles Games.

This was also the first ever medal of Pakistan in athletics in the country’s Olympics history.

After making a foul in the first throw Arshad rejuvenated himself and managed a huge throw of 92.97 meter which is also the Olympics record.

He then went on to manage 88.72m, 79.40m, 84.87m and 91.79m throws.

India’s Neeraj Chopra, who was defending the title, won silver while two-time world champion Anderson Peters of Grenada finished with a bronze with a throw of 88.54m.

It was, indeed, a huge gift from Arshad to the nation which is facing huge challenges on different fronts. Pakistan’s government and the entire nation celebrated this achievement on the Independence Day. Arshad was extended huge honor by the entire nation in an unprecedented reception in return to his memorable show in the jam-packed Olympic Stadium.

And a few days ago, Arshad, also the Commonwealth Games and Islamic Games champion, resumed training afresh to prepare for the World Championship which will be hosted by Tokyo in September 2025.

Arshad also will feature in the Diamond League which will begin in April and in the Asian Athletics Championship which will be held in Gumi, South Korea, from May 27 to 31.

He is lucky to get such events ahead of the World Championship and will be the real favorite for this event. Having won silver in the 2023 World Championship in Budapest Arshad aims to set a world record.

During an interview with Nukta recently, Arshad revealed that there is a 100m throw in him. It means he is the right person who can break the world record of 98.48m. Jan Zelezny of Czech Republic keeps this record. Zelezny is also imparting training to India’s star javelin thrower Neeraj Chopra who had crumbled under pressure in the Paris Games when Arshad Nadeem set a massive target for him in the start with a monster throw.

In June 2024 Pakistan’s No2 javelin thrower and the 2023 Asian Championship bronze medalist Yasir Sultan also tried to qualify for the Paris Olympics but he just managed a throw of 78.10m in the Asian Throwing Championship in Korea to finish with a silver medal. He needed a throw of 85.50m which was a standard set by the World Athletics to qualify for the Olympics.

Barring Arshad Nadeem, as usual, Pakistan’s Paris Olympics journey was not so good for the rest of the athletes of the national contingent.

Sprinter Faiqa Riaz recorded 12.49 seconds of time in 100m and exited at the preliminary round.

Similarly, shooters Ghulam Mustafa Bashir, Joseph Gulfam and Asian Games bronze medalist Kishmala Talat also failed to do anything noteworthy. The trio failed to make it to the finals.

But it was a glorious year for young shooter Kishmala who earlier this year qualified for the Paris Olympics by securing a silver in the 10m air pistol in the Asian Championship in Jakarta, thus becoming the first female shooter from Pakistan to directly qualify for the Olympics.

The two swimmers Ahmed Durrani and Jehanara Nabi also failed to do anything noteworthy at the Paris Games.

Snooker

After Arshad Nadeem’s glorious gold-winning show in the Paris Olympics, the country’s seasoned cueist Mohammad Asif also reclaimed the IBSF Men’s World Snooker Championship 2024 title in Doha.

Asif, who had previously lifted the global crowns in 2012 and 2019, conquered Iran’s top player Ali Gharahgozlou 5-3 in the best of nine frames worth-seeing battle.

The 42-year-old also equaled three titles record of Indian cueist Pankaj Advani who has to his credit world titles in 2023, 2015 and 2017.

Mohammad Yousuf was the first Pakistani who won the event in 1994 in South Africa and Ahsan Ramzan had lifted the title in 2021 also in Doha.

The frames score was 70-25, 7-87(84), 82(56)-8, 106 (106)-08, 82-12, 43-91(58), 0-118, 93(80)-4.

Hockey

In hockey, Pakistan have been struggling for the last few years. Yet another biggest disappointment was that in early January 2024 Pakistan failed to qualify for the Olympics for the third successive time. In the qualifiers in Muscat, Pakistan went down to New Zealand 3-2 in the third-place show despite the fact that the Green-shirts were leading the clash 2-1 in the fourth quarter.

Pakistan had also missed Tokyo and Rio Olympics.

Later, Pakistan also failed to make it to the Hockey 5s World Cup.

Pakistan did well, latter, in the Sultan Azlan Shah Cup held in May when they finished with a silver medal after they were downed by Japan 4-1 in the penalty shootout when the tie was 2-2 draw in the regulation time.

Earlier Pakistan had a fine start when they won all their group matches against Malaysia, Korea and Canada and drew against Japan and New Zealand with an identical scoreline of 1-1 to make it to the final, the first time in the last 13 years.

The Green-shirts then featured in the nine-nation FIH Nations Cup in May-June.

Pakistan had a tough beginning when they held Malaysia to a 4-4 draw. However, they then whipped Cananda 8-1. Pakistan were then downed by France 6-5 but despite the defeat they had semis chances which were latter shattered when they were outwitted by New Zealand 2-1.

Pakistan then were beaten by South Africa 4-3 in the third place play-off.

Pakistan finished with a bronze medal in the Asian Hockey Champions Trophy when they conquered South Korea 5-2 in the bronze medal match in China thanks to a brace each from Hannan Shahid and Sufyan Khan.

Rooman was the other who struck for Pakistan which was 0-1 down at one stage.

Pakistan had a calm start to the six-nation event when they were held by both Malaysia and Korea in their initial two outings. Pakistan then revived their title hopes by beating Japan 2-1 before they crushed China 5-1 to qualify for the semi-finals. In the semi-finals China beat Pakistan 2-0 in penalty shootout to make it to the final for the first time in the Asian Champions Trophy history.

Pakistan finished second in the Junior Asia Cup in Muscat early this month. India defeated Pakistan 5-3 in a high-voltage final held on December 4.

In the semi-finals Pakistan had defeated Japan 4-2. In the Group shows Pakistan had crushed China 7-2, whipped Bangladesh 6-0, annihilated Oman 7-0 before beating Malaysia 4-1 to progress to the semi-finals.

Football

In 2024 Pakistan men's football team completed it's 2026 FIFA World Cup Qualifiers second round journey and lost all their six matches held on home and away basis.

In November 2023 Pakistan were beaten by Saudi Arabia in Al-Ahsa 4-0, a game marred by heavy rain.

And after a few days Tajikistan then crushed Pakistan 6-1 in Islamabad’s Jinnah Stadium. In 2024 Jordan defeated Pakistan in Islamabad 3-0 before they crushed the Green-shirts 7-0 in Jordan. Pakistan lost to Saudi Arabia in Islamabad 3-0 before the Green-shirts were downed by Tajikistan 3-0 in Dushanbe.

Pakistan had defeated Cambodia 1-0 on aggregate in Islamabad in 2023 to qualify for the second round for the first time in history.

English coach Stephen Constantine was Pakistan's coach during all this time.

In November Pakistan Under-17 team failed to go beyond the semi-finals in the SAFF Under-17 Championship in Nepal.

In the semi-finals Bangladesh downed the Green-shirts 4-3 on penalties.

Pakistan had a fine start when they defeated India 2-1 before crushing Bhutan 4-0 to progress to the semi-finals.

It was also not a good year for Pakistan's women football team. In October in Nepal Pakistan were exited in the group stage. Pakistan were beaten by India 5-2 while Bangladesh then held Pakistan to 1-1 draw and showed them the exit door.

Towards the year’s end Pakistan women team held Saudi Arabia to a 1-1 draw in a friendly in Doha.

Football’s biggest issue is the due elections of the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF). The PFF Normalization Committee has successfully held the elections at the district and provincial level. However, the issue is that before going for the PFF elections both AFC and FIFA want to amend the Article 38 of the PFF Statutes which defines the eligibility criteria for the PFF presidency.

On November 19 at Lahore PFF Extraordinary Congress was convened but was postponed hardly it had started as representatives of few departments forced their way into the meeting hall. They told the meeting that they were congress members and they would not allow them to proceed without them.

NC, initially, had to hold the PFF elections by December 15, 2024, but due to this issue FIFA extended its mandate for two months until February 15, 2025. The Extraordinary Congress will be reconvened in January to go for necessary amendments to article 38.

Volleyball

The 2024 was a promising year for Pakistan’s volleyball on various fronts.

Pakistan carried the 2023 Hangzhou Asian Games fifth-place finish momentum into the Central Asian Volleyball League in Islamabad in May 2024 which Pakistan won by beating Turkmenistan 3-1 in the final match at the Liaquat Gymnasium Islamabad.

Immediately after that Pakistan senior team clean-swept Australia 3-0 at home series also in the federal capital. This was Australia’s first Pakistan’s tour.

Pakistan then in June 2024 finished as runners-up in the AVC Challenge Cup when they lost to Qatar 3-0 in the final at Isa Town, Bahrain.

Pakistan Under-18 team also delivered well by winning the Central Asian Volleyball Association (CAVA) Asian Under-18 Championship by beating Iran 3-1 in the final at Tehran.

The same team latter ended with a bronze medal in the 15th Asian Men’s Under-18 Championship held in Manama by beating Japan 3-0 in the third position show. The feat also enabled Pakistan to qualify for the 2025 Under-19 World Championship for the first time.

Besides fine signs shown by Pakistan’s men’s team the country’s volleyball governing body (PVF) also sent its women team to Italy for training for the first time in history.

And another good thing is that the PVF have now planned to go for the first-ever professional league early next year. And the event will be formally launched on June 9 at Lahore. The league, which will be carrying six franchises, will be conducted at the Liaquat Gymnasium Islamabad.

Boxing

In Pakistan boxing suffered heavily in 2024. The country lost a fine fighter Zohaib Rasheed who vanished in Italy just before the start of the Paris Olympics qualifiers.

He latter said in an interview with this correspondent that he took the decision due to financial issues.

In both qualifying rounds held in 2024 Pakistani boxers flopped badly.

On professional front Pakistan’s star boxer and former WBC world No1 Mohammad Waseem returned to international circuit in style after two and a half years. He pulled off his 13th win of his career when he knocked out Jana Memisishi of Georgia in the bantamweight ranking fight at the Inter-Continental Hotel in Malta.

Waseem wrapped-up the victory in the third round through a splendid body shot.

This was the ninth knockout win of Waseem’s career in which he has played 15 fights, winning 13 and lost just two and that also the world title shots against South Africa’s Moruti Mthalane and England’s Sunny Edwards.

Kabaddi

In kabaddi, too, Pakistan did not get ample exposure in the year 2024. However, in beach kabaddi the national team did well and claimed silver medal when they were conquered by hosts Iran in the final of the 1st World Beach Kabaddi Championship in Bandar Anzali.

It was a tough fight with either side putting in their best with Iran taking a huge advantage of their home crowd.

Pakistan, which are too good in beach kabaddi that requires strength and stamina more than the skills, gave tough time to the Iranians but failed to prevent them from lifting the crown.

Iran won it 41-35.

Earlier on the same day Pakistan defeated Iraq 58-21 to set final date with Iran.

Pakistan showcased solid performance in Group B by beating Palestine, Kenya, Germany and Lebanon to qualify for the semi-finals.

Iran defeated Kenya in the semi-finals. Earlier Iran defeated Nepal, Turkmenistan and Denmark enroute to blast their way into the semi-finals.

India missed the event as International Kabaddi Federation (IKF) have banned its federation for its failure to hold the election.

Pakistan was expected to face India in a friendly show at Kartarpur Corridor on November 19 on the occasion of Baba Guru Nanak birth anniversary celebrations but India did not send its team that damaged the entire plans of Pakistan Kabaddi Federation (PKF) and Punjab government.

Taekwondo

Pakistan’s leading taekwondo fighter Shahzaib Khan finished the year 2024 on fine note as he finished at the fifth position of the world ranking in the -54 kilogram and it was a huge achievement.

Shahzaib also claimed silver in the Asian Senior Men’s Championship in Vietnam. It was the first ever medal at this stage in Pakistan’s taekwondo history.

Shahzaib is a truly Olympics hope and he is expected to do well during the next four years until the Los Angeles Olympics.

Former world champion Yousuf Karami of Iran has been a big plus behind the country’s taekwondo rise as he has been busy in training talented fighters since long.

Squash

Noor Zaman defeated Nasir Iqbal 3-0 in the final of the 15000 US dollars CAS Serena Hotels International Squash Championship held at the Mushaf Squash Complex in Islamabad.

Noor continued with his epic journey and went on to get the better of Nasir Iqbal to wear the crown.

The set score was 12-10, 11-9, 10-12, 11-9.

In Hong Kong recently Pakistan, featuring Nasir Iqbal, Noor Zaman and Mohammad Asim Khan, finished 13th in the World Team Squash Championship.

It was a real disappointment for the country which has a rich squash history.

The biggest issue is that Pakistani players have been confronting with financial crises. The athletes need to ensure their maximum appearance in international circuit and they are unable to do so.

This was after long seven to eight years that Pakistan were featuring in the World Team Championship. The team showed some spark in the group stage as they won all their three matches against Peru, Hong Kong and Italy to progress to the round of 16. However there they failed to beat Germany which they should have. The authorities will need to focus on players exposure which is the only way to boost the sport.

Blind cricket

Pakistan blind cricket team made history by winning their first-ever T20 World Cup title when they whipped Bangladesh by ten wickets in the final at the Multan Cricket Stadium the other month.

Skipper Nisar Ali led from the front, smashing an unbeaten 72 runs off just 31 balls. His aggressive innings played a pivotal role in Pakistan's chase of the 140-run target, which they achieved in only 10.2 overs.

Nisar was supported by his opening partner Mohammad Safdar, who contributed a steady 47 runs off 33 deliveries.

Bangladesh's bowlers struggled to contain the rampant Pakistani opening batsmen. Mahidul Islam conceded 41 runs in three overs, while Mohammad Salman gave away 32 runs in his two-over spell.

Batting first, Bangladesh managed 139-7 in their 20 overs. Skipper Arif Hossain top-scored with a determined 54 runs off 52 balls, while Mohammad Salman chipped in with 31 runs off 35 balls.

Ashiqur Rehman added a quick-fire 22 off 17 deliveries to help their side reach a competitive total.

Pakistan’s bowlers were disciplined, with Babar Ali leading the charge by claiming 2-24 in his four overs. Matiullah and Mohammad Salman also took a wicket apiece, ensuring Bangladesh’s innings never gained significant momentum.

Afghanistan made their debut in this edition, thanks to Pakistan's assistance in developing their team. Notably, Pakistani coach Masood Jan conducted trials in Kabul and other regions to help form a competitive Afghan side.

For the first time, India missed the T20 Blind Cricket World Cup due to its government’s last-minute decision to deny the team permission to travel.

India had previously won all three World Cups they hosted in 2012, 2017, and 2022, with Pakistan finishing as runners-up in the first two editions held in Bangalore. Pakistan could not participate in the 2022 tournament due to visa issues, where India defeated Bangladesh in the final.