Pakistan defeated the arch rival Bangladesh to win its first gold medal at the Guangzhou Asian Games in women's cricket on Friday.

The Pakistanis won the final 93-92 with a 10-wicket victory to cinch the first cricket champion in the Games' history, as the sport debuts in Guangzhou.

"We are all thrilled to win the champion for our country. It's also our first regional game champion" said Abidi Syeda Nain Fatima from Pakistan. "We have been focusing on the gold medal since we have been training."

The Pakistani women, wearing light green uniforms, are under great attention in their homeland, as for the first time, a women team match was broadcast live through their country.

"Our families and friends were watching our performance on live. We never saw it before. It's amazing," said Abidi.

Earlier, Japan scored a narrow seven-wicket victory over the host China to win the bronze.

"I'm satisfied with our performances today, though it's pity we lost the chance for a medal," said Chinese captain Wang Meng. "If we, a young and inexperienced team, are given more time to get matured, your patience will be rewarded."

Despite the humble start for cricket in China, Liu Rongyao, the Chinese team manager, hopes the Asian Games will seed hopes for the sports in the future.

"Cricket will be on the list of the 2014 Asian Games competitions, so we have another four years to make us better and field in the 2014 Games with right squad," said Liu.

The official expressed China's hopes of continuing cooperation with the two foreign coaches, Indian Mamatha Maben for the women's team and Pakistani Rashid Khan for the men's.

"We hope they can stay to help us, and we need experts like them," said Liu.

Eight teams, including other four teams from Nepal, Malaysia, Hong Kong and Thailand, compete for the title.

Go to Forum >>0 Comments