District games open with 5,925 participants

LAHORE:

As many as 5925 athletes competed in the district games of the Punjab Youth Festival 2014 which opened on Wednesday.

Nearly 4,015 people moved to the next round.

In Lahore, out of the 359 participants, 55 were declared winners. The arm-wrestling contest was won by Nabeel. Hafeez stood second.

Team Ravi and Team Nishtar won the tennis ball cricket event. Aamir beat Khalilul Rehman in a chess competition and Rana Ashfaq and Farhan won the karate event.

In Kasur, Nankana Sahib and Sheikhupura, 562 people competed and 106 moved to the next round.

In Chakwal, Attock and Jhelum, out of 586 participants, 111 returned victorious.

In Bhakkar, Khushab and Mianwali of Sargodha division, 960 people moved to the next round out of the 2,934 participants.

Hafizabad, Sialkot, Mandi Bahauddin, Gujrat and Narowal witnessed participation of 236 athletes out of which 79 won.

In Jhang, Toba Tek Singh and Chiniot, 1,060 people participated in various sporting events and 198 were triumphant.

In Okara and Pakpattan, 20 out of 40 participants moved to the next round.

In Vehari, Lodhran and Khanewal, 373 people participated in various sporting events and 185 returned victorious.

In Bahawalnagar and Rahim Yar Khan, 18 participated and nine moved to the next round.

In Rajanpur, Layyah and Muzaffargarh, 116 people participated and 46 won.

Memorandum of understanding

The Punjab Sports Board and Aldershot Football Club, from Hampshire, UK, on Wednesday signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) under which the club’s soccer team will be part of the International Sports Festival 2014.

The festival is tentatively scheduled from April 8 to 16.

Sports Board Secretary Usman Anwar and Aldershot Football Club Chairman Shahid Azeem signed the MoU in the presence of Sports, Education and Youth Affairs Minister Rana Mashhood Ahmed Khan.

Later, addressing newsmen at a press conference, Mashhood said the PYF 2014 had seen participation of 3.8 million people from various walks of life so far. He said the Punjab Youth Festival 2014 would also feature international sports activities.

He several international teams, clubs and players would take part in various events of the festival.

“In 2012, 26 international teams came to Pakistan and took part in the events. This time, we are expecting 40 teams,” he said. He said the sports board would provide facilities and security to international teams. “The government has developed 6,000 grounds and provided sports facilities in 18,000 areas of the province,” he said.

He said the fourth stage events carried Rs1,041,180 prize money.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 30^th, 2014.