LAHORE - Waqt News edged out Nawa-i-Waqt to clinch the cricket title here at the Khayaban-e-Amin cricket ground on late Tuesday night.

In the thrilling cricket final, Waqt News scored victory on the very last ball, when they needed two runs on just one ball. Nawa-i-Waqt, batting first, posted 56 runs on the board with their captain Nadeem Basra smashing 46 runs. In reply, Hamdan Ali played significant role in Waqt News victory and earned man of the match award.

In the playoff match, The Nation outplayed Marketing team to earn the third potion. The Nation, batting first, scored 58 runs which, Marketing team, in reply, couldn’t achieve.

In the veterans’ clash, Salim Bokhari-led team outpaced Bilal Butt-led team. The veterans were in great spirit and not only played out their heart but also amazed the spectators with their outstanding performances.

Lahore Press Club (LPC) president Shahbaz Mian was chief guest at the concluding ceremony while Editor The Nation Salim Bokhari, Bilal Butt, Shafique Sultan, Qaiser Nadeem, Dilawar Chaudhry, Saeed Aasi, Nadeem Basra, EMRA secretary Asif Butt, vice president Arshad Chaudhry, Mustansar Salehri, Salman Butt of Allied Advertisement, Group staffers and their families were also present on the occasion. In the end, chief guest Shahbaz Mian distributed prizes among the winners and top performers.  Speaking at the occasion, the chief guest said: “I am very impressed with the way the organising committee of Nawa-i-Waqt Group held the Sports Gala and provided their staffers an opportunity to exhibit their prowess and also spend their time in healthy activities. This group has taken a great initiative and it must be followed by others houses. We will also hold such events for Lahore Press Club members.”

Editor The Nation Salim Bokhari lauded the efforts of Human Resource department for holding the Sports Gala in a befitting manner and hoped such event would be conducted on annual basis.

Human Resource Manager Shafique Sultan announced that they would organise this sports gala at least once or twice in a year. “I am delighted with the maximum number of participation of Nawa-i-Waqt Group staffer in the gala. We will continue to hold such events in future as well and create more such opportunities for our staffers.”

General Manager Marketing Bilal Butt said: “It was a good decision to hold cricket, badminton and snooker events in the sports gala. More events will be added in the next gala.”