Shadab Khan L and Talha Talib Picture Credit: Twitter
While the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games are still underway, Pakistan is yet to open its account in the prestigious world sporting event. In fact, historically the country does not have a pretty good record at the games and has only managed 10 medals at the event so far. While the South Asian nation has three gold medals to its credit, it has three silver and four bronze medals along side.
On Sunday, weightlifter Talha Talib missed out on a rare Olympic medal for Pakistan but managed to make a mark at the Games and capture the country's attention. The 21-year-old lifter from Gujranwala, who was making his debut appearance at the Olympics and took part in the 67kg category, held the gold medal spot until the final round before ultimately being bumped down and being denied even a bronze, finishing fifth.
While China's Lijun Chen won the gold medal, Colombia' Luis Javier Mosquera and Italy's Mirko Zanni clinched the silver and bronze medals, respectively.
Taking note of his effort, cricketer Shadab Khan has pledged to set up a fund for Pakistan's Olympic athletes. He took to social media to make the announcement.
"Within the next year, I pledge to set up a fund for Pakistan’s Olympic’s athletes in preparation for the next Olympics. Looking at people like Talha Talib, we all should play our part in supporting Pakistan’s heroes. Please join me for Pakistan. #SKOlympicsFund #PakistanZindabad," he tweeted.
Check out his Tweet here:
Earlier this month Shadab was involved in a mid-match moment of anger with Sarfaraz Ahmed in the final ODI against England. While Lewis Gregory, who was batting on 77 off 68 balls, mistimed a ball which resulted in a catching chance, Sarfaraz, who had the wicketkeepers' gloves on did not reach near the ball but instead Shadab had to come to grab the catch who said a few words to the keeper.
Later, veteran Sri Lankan cricketer Kumar Sangakkara noted the following about the catch: "Sarfaraz Ahmed had no interest in going for that catch, yet Shadab Khan was being told off by Sarfaraz for taking a catch that should have been taken by the wicketkeeper."