YAKUT: Pakistani athletes Saad Mohammad and Waqas Afzal Bhatti on Thursday won silver medals in the fourth Mas-Wrestling World Championship held in Yakut, Russia.
According to Pakistan Mas-Wrestling Federation, Pakistani athlete Waqas Afzal Bhatti earned the silver medal in 125kg category, while in 60kg weight category competition, Saad Mohammad bagged the silver medal after finishing second on the podium.
In the 125kg category, Waqas Afzal defeated his adversary from India Sheikh Abdul Ahad Yunus in a qualifying round bout before winning his semi-final on way to the final. Meanwhile, Saad had defeated wrestlers from Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan in initial bouts before outclassing the Serbian opponent in the semifinal. Unfortunately, he couldn’t win the gold medal bout and had to settle for the silver medal.
The championship that has kicked off yesterday in Russia features athletes from 45 countries. Pakistan has sent 11 athletes to the championship, including one female athlete.
Pakistan’s other participants in the tournament Aurangzaib Shah, Shaffat Ullah, Natasha Amani Khan, Afshal Anser, Ali Azhar, Sheraz Ali, Muhammad Alam and Muhammad Ibrahim Baig are scheduled to compete on Friday.
Mas-Wrestling
Mas-wrestling is the international name used for the Yakut ethnosport derived from the traditional stick pulling game mas tard’yhyy (stick tugging). Reminiscent of the Eskimo Stick Pull featured at the World Eskimo Indian Olympics, Norwegian kjevletrekk, Finnish kartunveto or väkikapulan veto, as well as the Highland test of strength The Swingle Tree (played with a shepherd’s crook), participants taking part in mas-wrestling competitions sit in front of each other, prop their feet against the board that divides the competition area and tug on a wooden stick (mas), making sure to keep it parallel to the propping board. Mas-wrestling demands great muscular strength from the hands, legs, back, and abdominals.
