Meet Pakistan’s women athletes participating in Commonwealth Games 2018

As many as 56 Pakistani athletes are representing their homeland in the Commonwealth Games 2018, being held at Gold Coast, Australia, from April 4 to April 15.

The players will showcase their skills in different sports including hockey, swimming, table tennis, squash, weightlifting, shooting among others. The Pakistan squad is going up against more than 6,600 athletes and team officials from 71 Commonwealth nations and territories.

In a squad comprising mostly men, ten Pakistani women hope to make their mark in their respective categories.

Here’s a list of all the women athletes participating in the Commonwealth Games:

Najma Parveen

Born in 1990, Najma Parveen hails from Faisalabad. She will represent her homeland in athletics and participate in women’s 200m and 400m hurdles and relays.

Najma was a part of Pakistan’s squad in the 2016 Rio Olympics. She has been terrific in multiple events in which she has been featuring for the last few years. Her favourite events are 100m, 200m, 400m, 400m hurdles and relays.

In April last year, she won six gold medals in the National Athletics Championship in Karachi.

Bisma Khan

Born in 2002, the teenager, who hails from Lahore, will participate in women’s 50m freestyle, women’s 100m freestyle and women’s 50m backstroke swimming competitions.

She previously participated in Commonwealth Games in 2014 and ranked 32. During the South Asian Games 2016, the young swimmer won her first international medal for Pakistan in 50m backstroke.

The child prodigy secured six gold medals and created two records even before turning 13.

Palwasha Bashir

Born on October 20, 1987, Palwasha Bashir hails from Karachi. The athlete will be representing the country in the sport of badminton. During the events being held from April 10 to April 15, she will compete in singles, doubles and mixed doubles events.

Palwasha will also be a part of the team playing against Scotland, India and Sri Lanka during the mixed team event at the Commonwealth Games.

Mahnoor Shahzad

The 21-year-old badminton player, who hails from Karachi, will participate in women’s singles, women’s doubles, mixed doubles and mixed team event.

A student of Karachi’s Institute of Business Administration, Mahnoor won the singles final during the International Badminton Tournament.

Players from foreign countries such as Turkey, Nepal and Sri Lanka also participated in the competition, which was held from November 9 to November 12, last year.

Minhal Sohail

Born n 1995, Minhal will feature in the women’s 10m air rifle shooting competition at the commonwealth games.

The 23-year-old created history by representing Pakistan in the women shooting category at the Olympics game in Rio de Janeiro in 2016.

Mehwish Farhan

The 31-year-old Karachiite will represent the country in women’s 10m air pistol shooting competition.

Mehwish Farhan has previously participated in Asian Games 2014, where she secured the 37th position.

Faiza Zafar

The 22-year-old squash player will represent Pakistan in the categories of women’s singles, women’s doubles and mixed doubles.

The young athlete, who hails from Sialkot, has won many national level squash championships.

Madina Zafar

Born in 1998, the teenage squash player hails from Gujranwala.

She will participate in women’s singles, women’s doubles and mixed doubles categories at the commonwealth games.

Fatima Khan

Born in 2001, Fatima Khan hails from Lahore.

The female table tennis player will be representing Pakistan in women’s singles, women’s doubles and mixed doubles categories.

Hareem Anwar Ali

The 18-year-old table tennis player will represent Pakistan in women’s singles, women’s doubles and mixed doubles categories.

Hareem Anwar Ali hails from Karachi.