ISLAMABAD - Punjab was way ahead in the medal tables as they won 7 gold, 6 silver and 5 bronze medals on the second day of the Quaid-e-Azam Inter-provincial Youth Gamers held here at Pakistan Sports Complex Sunday.
Surprisingly it was Balochistan who are at second spot with 4 gold, 1 silver and 4 bronze medals. Sindh is at number 3 with one gold, 4 silver and 2 bronze medals. Inter Provincial Coordination (IPC) Minister Mian Riaz Hussain Pirzada graced the occasion as chief guest while IPC Secretary Muhammad Ali Gardezi, DG PSB Dr Akhtar Nawaz Ganjera, DDG M Shahid, DDG Aghar Amjed Ullah, DDG Dr Waqar, Director Media Shahzia Ejaz, Director National Federations Azam Dar, Dr Shabeena, Assistant Director Hostels Malik Imtiaz Hussain, Assistant Director Peshawar centre Mumtaz Hussain aljng with others were also present on the occasion.
It was very thin attendance as far as crowd was concerned hardly few people arrived to witness the games. Had the PSB made proper arrangements things could have been far different. Even participating athletes doesn’t bothered to witness the competitions, which presented a very bad picture as only the minister was sitting and few PSB employees were roaming around him. As national broadcaster is telecasting the entire event live, the PSB should have contacted different schools, colleges and universities of twin cities, which could have helped in overcoming crowd shortage.
In karate, Balochistan won two gold’s and are at the top of the table with 60 points, followed by Sindh with two silver’s and 40 points, while Punjab was at third spot with 2 bronze and total of 20 points. In athletics, Punjab was leading the table with two golds, as many silvers and total 50 points, while KP was at second place with 1 bronze and total of 12 points and Balochistan at third with 1 bronze and total of 7 points. In judo, Punjab and Fata were at top with 1 gold, 1 silver and 1 bronze and total 30 points each, KP was at second place with 1 silver and 2 bronze and total of 20 points and Balochistan was at third with 1 gold and total of 17 points.
In tennis team event KP beat Punjab 2-0. In Men’s singles quarterfinals: Arham Attique (ISB) beat Gul Zaman (FATA) 6-4, 6-2; Barkatullah (KP) beat Aqeel Shabir (SINDH) 6-1, 6-2, Kashan-ul-Haq (ISB) beat Zaryab Pirzada (Punjab) 6-7(3) 7-5, 6-0.
In women singles quarterfinals: Hania Naveed (Sindh) beat Saba Tariq (Balochistan) 6-1, 6-0, Mariam Mirza (Punjab) beat Kiran Mushtaq (ISB) 6-1, 6-1, Shimza Naz (Punjab) beat Maria (KP) 6-0, 6-1, Rida Khan (Sindh) beat Sundas David (ISB) 6-1, 6-1.
In Men’s doubles semi-finals: M Bilal/Zaryab Prizada (Punjab) beat Gul Zaman/Waqar (FATA) 6-1, 6-2, Hafiz Arbab Ali/Hashir Farooq (Punjab) beat Ilham Khan/Aftab Hussain (FATA) 6-1, 6-1, Ejaz Ahmed/Barkatullah (KP) beat Aqeel Shabir/Murad Khan (Sindh) 6-2, 6-2, Kashan-ul-Haq/Arham Attiq (ISB) beat Ebad Sarwar/Nadir Bachani (Sindh) 7-6(4), 6-4.
In Women’s doubles semi-finals: Hania Naveed/Rida Khan (Sindh) beat Zohra Afzal/Shmila Manzoor (Balochistan) 6-0, 6-0, Zoya Khan/Zakiya Majeed (Punjab) beat Sundas David/Anam Shahid (ISB) 6-1, 6-3, Saba Tariq/Nazia Batool (Balochistan) beat Syed Erij Batool/Ayesha Yousaf (Sindh) 6-2, 6-2, Shinza Naz/Mariam Mirza (Punjab) beat Maria/Hafza (KP) 6-0, 6-1. Salim Saifullah Khan, President Pakistan Tennis Federation graced the graced the occasion.