Top 10 athletes of Pakistan in 2019
2019 was overall a good one for Pakistan as athletes brought prestige to the country
December 31, 2019
The year 2019 was overall a good one for Pakistan in sports as athletes in different categories, including cricket, achieved individual glories and kept Pakistan's flag high in the world. There are a few who were ahead of the rest due to their outstanding performances in the year.
Here are 10 of the top athletes of Pakistan in 2019:
1. Inam Butt
Inam Butt is one of the most successful athletes from Pakistan in this era, like previous years, he continued to shine in 2019 as well.
He started the year with a silver medal in World Series Beach Wrestling in Brazil, which also earned him a berth at the World Beach Games, where he won Pakistan's first-ever gold medal in the competition.
Inam added another gold medal to his collection from the wrestling category in the South Asian Games (SAG). He was also in top-form during National Games in Peshawar, where he won his 13th consecutive national level gold medal.
2. Arshad Nadeem
Arshad is one the fastest emerging athletes in Pakistan. His monstrous throw of 86.29m at the SAG javelin throw competition not only netted him a gold medal but also a national record.
The throw also confirmed him a place in the Tokyo Olympics, making him the first-ever athlete from Pakistan in decades to directly qualify for Olympics on merit.
Arshad had also won a gold medal at the National Games.
3. Mohammad Asif
Cueist Mohammad Asif, who is known for his beautiful control on cue, won IBSF World Snooker Championship in Turkey this year, which was his second individual world title. He also won two national-level snooker championships this year.
Asif had also won a silver medal in IBSF World 6 red-balls championship in 2019.
Also read: Pakistan, with 32 gold medals, rank fourth as South Asian Games conclude
4. Babar Azam
Babar Azam collectively scored 2082 international runs in 2019 across all the three formats this year, with Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma being the only players ahead of him. With red-ball, Azam scored 616 runs in 11 innings — the most by any Pakistani batter.
He also added another 1092 runs in ODIs, while he scored 374 runs in T20Is.
The star batsman also performed well in T20 leagues around the world with over 1600 runs in the year with white-ball.
5. Mohammad Wasim
Pakistan's prominent boxer Mohammad Wasim made his comeback to the ring in 2019 and he made it with a bang, as he won both his professional bouts.
Wasim played his first bout in September and knocked out his opponent from the Philippines in mere 82 seconds. In the second bout of the year, Wasim — the Falcon — defeated two times former champion Giango Lopez from Mexico after a tough battle.
6. Shah Hussian Shah
Judoka Shah Hussain Shah — son of Pakistan's legend Boxer Hussain Shah — is following the legacy of his father and keeping Pakistan's flag high.
Despite all obstacles, Shah earned a continental quota place for the Tokyo Olympics after outstanding performances in Abu Dhabi and Asia Pacific Championship.
The 26-year-old Judoka won one gold and one silver medal in the SAG, and added another gold at the National Games in Peshawar.
7. Bismah Maroof
Captain of Pakistan's women cricket team, Bismah Maroof, in 2019 was one of the most outstanding performers in women's cricket with the bat.
She scored 459 runs in 15 T20I innings in the year, which is the most by any female player from a full member country in women T20Is in 2019.
In ODIs, she scored 273 runs in 10 innings to keep herself among prominent performers from Pakistan in women's cricket this year.
8. Saadi Abbas
Karateka Saadi Abbas is another name among the top-performing sportsmen from Pakistan in 2019. He won two gold medals, one in the 75 kg individual category and another in team Kumite, during the SAG in Nepal.
He also won a gold medal for Pakistan at the United Arab Emirates Open and remained among the top performers in Tokyo Open.
Abbas had also won a gold medal in National Games this year.
9. Najma Parveen
Najma is among the most decorated female athletes of Pakistan ,who has brought several laurels for the country in the past few years.
In SAG, Najma won gold in women's 400m hurdles and a bagged silver in the 200m race for Pakistan. She also won six gold medals in this year's National Games, three of which were achieved with a national record timing.
10. Mahoor Shehzad
Mahoor is among the top Badminton players from Pakistan. She became the first-ever Pakistani to be marked among the top 150 players of the world this year.
In 2019, Mahoor won 10 out of 16 individual and three out of five double games.
She also won a gold medal in the Pakistan International Series Badminton Championship and won a Bronze medal in Bulgaria Open.
She won silver in the doubles event at the Pakistan international series while also playing quarter-finals of several other international tournaments this year.
Related:
Babar Azam reflects on the year 2019
