Pakistan to send 62-member contingent to Commonwealth Games

Pakistan will compete in badminton, boxing, gymnastics, shooting, swimming, table tennis, weightlifting and wrestling.

KARACHI: After the Lahore High Court (LHC) on Friday cleared a group of athletes to participate in next week's Commonwealth Games following a long-standing tussle between two rival factions of the Pakistan Olympic Association, the 62-member contingent is scheduled to leave for Scotland on Monday.

"A 62-member squad will leave for Scotland to feature in the Commonwealth Games on Monday and we got a final go ahead," Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) director general Akhtar Nawaz Ganjera told media.

The decision came after the government reversed its backing to a faction opposed by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) last week.

The 20th Commonwealth Games are scheduled from July 23 to August 3 in Glasgow, Scotland.

Pakistan will participate in eight sports - badminton, boxing, gymnastics, shooting, swimming, table tennis, weightlifting and wrestling.

Pakistan has competed in 11 of the 19 previous Commonwealth Games, from 1954. Its most successful games have been the 1962 Commonwealth Games in Perth, where it was 4th in the overall rankings by winning eight gold medals.

Pakistan's most successful sport in the games has been wrestling where they have won 37 medals, 20 of which have been gold.

Pakistan won two gold medals in wrestling, one silver (also in wrestling) and two bronze medals in boxing at the last games held in New Delhi in 2010.

Pakistan's main hopes will again be on wrestlers Azhar Hussain and Muhammad Inam.

Hussain won a gold and a silver while Inam won a gold in New Delhi.

Field Hockey, Pakistan's national sport, though will be missing in this year's games since the country's federation failed to send its entry in time because of the ongoing tussle between the factions of the POA.