ISLAMABAD - Nine-member Pakistan bowling team will participate in the 23rd Asian Tenpin Bowling Championship starting from May 19 to 30 in Thailand. Ijazur Rehman is top seed, while other members of the squad are Alim Agha, Saleem Baig, Zafar Iqbal, Shabbir Lashkarwala, M Hussain Chatha, Ahmed Saldhera and Ali Suriya while Khawaja Ahmed is manager of the team. Teams and players from Dubai, Australia, Korea, China, India, Qatar, Uzbekistan, Philippines, Iran, Hong Kong, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore and other countries will be seen in action during the event.
Taking to The Nation on Wednesday, Pakistan Tenpin Bowling Federation (PTBF) secretary Ijazur Rehman said: “We have selected a very strong and competitive team and I am quite hopeful my team will perform well and return home victorious. We have applied for NOC and much-needed funds from Pakistan Sports Board (PSB).” “The PTBF is taking giant strides with each passing day and our players are bringing laurels for the country at international stage. Our hero Umar Khalid just returned home after grabbing the high-profile Dubai GCC title, where he was competing against one of the bests in the business. It is not only a great honour for the PTBF but also for the entire country,” he said and added: “Our female player Jannet Sheikh also excelled in the 11th Kuwait International Open Bowling Championship, where she won third position in female category.”
“All these remarkable achievements were done without any financial sport of the PSB or any other government or private institutions’ help. The PTBF is striving hard to promote this game not only at national level but also spending huge amount of money on sending players for participation in international meets. It is my humble request to Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif, who is a found sports lover, to recognise our efforts and order Capital Development Authority (CDA) to allocate a piece of land where we may construct our own bowling club on self-finance basis which will help us in promoting the game across the country,” Ijaz concluded.