Pakistanis who made us proud in 2016

Flashing back to a passing year, we see eventful happenings that find an abode into our memory. And when you look at the moments driven by individual feats making your nation proud, you definitely owe them acknowledgment.

There are personalities who raised the green flag at the international level. We are here reminiscing success stories of individuals who’ve become a source of inspiration.

Mostly all of us had been accustomed to saying ‘Thank You Raheel Sharif’ to the former army chief for his services, but we also owe thanks to some other notable figures whose accomplishments deserve high-five in the same spirit.

On February 28, 2016, Sharmeen Obaid-Chinoy became the first Pakistani to win two Oscar awards.

Sharmeen won in the Best Documentary Short Subject for A Girl In The River: The Price of Forgiveness in the 88th Academy awards. The documentary which sheds light on honour killings in Pakistan follows the story of a teenage girl shot in the face by her own family.

Fiza Farhan is the Chief Executive Officer of Buksh Foundation and Director of Buksh Energy Pvt Ltd. She was elected as a member of the first-ever High-Level Panel of the UN Secretary-General on Women’s Economic Empowerment in February

She holds honoree titles of Co-Chairperson Italian Development Chamber of Commerce in Pakistan, Future Energy Leader at the World Energy Council and has received multiple honours over the years including the 2016 Influential Leader Award by the Association to Advance Collegiate Schools of Business (ACCSB) and the 2016 Women’s Entrepreneur’s Achievement Award amongst others.

Fiza was also part of the “30 under 30” list by Forbes magazine for Social Entrepreneurs in 2015.

Rukhsana and Sofia became the first Pakistani women to bag international medals in boxing at the 2016 South Asian Games in Shillong in February.

The 21-year-old became Pakistan’s first female shooter to compete in Olympics 2016.

Sohail, the 22-year old from Karachi who got a wildcard entry by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) for the games, launched her sporting career in 2012 and has won several tournaments across the world.

Muhammad Waseem became Pakistan’s first boxer to win the World Boxing Council (WBC) Silver flyweight title when he defeated Philippines’ Jether Oliva at the Hilton Hotel in Seoul, South Korea in July.

Waseem, nicknamed Falcon, is the only Pakistani boxer competing at the professional circuit.

In November, he successfully defended his WBC silver flyweight title after defeating Giemel Megramo of the Philippines.

Actor Fawad Khan became the first Pakistani to host Indian film industry’s biggest award show – International Film Academy (IIFA) Awards.

The heartthrob hosted a special segment of the IIFA on June 24 in Madrid. The actor’s charisma and exceptional talent has already earned him accolades and recognition in the neighbouring country.

In the event, Fawad shared the stage with his mentor Karan Johar in Madrid. Khan hogged the media limelight for his super romantic interaction with gorgeous Deepika Padukone.

In February, Pakistan-born astrophysicist played a part in discovery of gravitational waves.

Karachi-born professor Mavalvala assisted the team of scientists in the historic detection of gravitational waves and received tremendous viral jubilation.

She worked with researchers at the US-based underground detectors Laser Interferometer Gravitational-wave Observatory (LIGO) Laboratory to build sophisticated sensors to detect gravitational ripples created from the collision of two black holes some 1.3 billion years ago and had been hurtling through space to reach Earth on September 14, 2015.

The detection confirmed a major prediction of Albert Einstein’s 1915 general theory of relativity and opens an unprecedented new window onto the cosmos.

Pakistan leg-spin prodigy Yasir Shah rewrote the history after he broke Australia’s Charlie Turner’s 123-year-old record for most wickets after 13 Test matches.

Yasir’s sixth wicket in his splendid six-wicket inning haul in the Test against England at Lord’s in July, bagged him his 82nd Test wicket, one more than the Australian seamer.

Yasir became the first leg-spinner to achieve the feat in 83 years.