LAHORE - Sanwal Jhakar Pehlwan of Multan defeated Awais Tairan wala Pehlwan of Sahiwal in a closely fought 34-minute bout to win the Rustam-e-Punjab Dangal title here at the Punjab Stadium on Sunday.
Overall, a hefty prize money of Rs 2.6 million was distributed among all the participating wrestlers. SanwalJhakarPehlwan was given a cash prize of Rs 350,000 while the runner-up Awais Tairan wala pocketed Rs 250,000 cash prize. The title of Sher-e-Punjab went to Shahzad Pachar Pehlwan, who knocked out Adnan Tairanwala convincingly. Both the wrestlers were awarded a cash prize of Rs 100,000 each.
Director General Sports Punjab Dr Asif Tufail was the chief guest on this occasion. He awarded the cash prize and winner’s mace to Sanwal Jhakar Pehlwan. Director Sports Yasmeen Akhtar, Director Youth Affairs Rana Nadeem Anjum, Deputy Directors Zahoor Ahmed and Ataur Rahman, World Beach Wrestling Champion Inam Butt, Sher-e-Punjab Shahid Khoey Wala, President Punjab
Wrestling Association Arshad Sattar and others were also present on this occasion. Talking to media, Director General Sports Punjab Dr Asif Tufail said that Rustam-e-Punjab Dangal is a very important event of our Annual Sports Calendar. “All our sports events are being organised as per the schedule of Annual Sports Calendar and as per our schedule, the next Rustam-e-Punjab Dangal will be staged on Feb 4 next year.”
Dr Asif congratulated the winning wrestlers in Rising Punjab Games 2024. As many as 35 bouts were contested in the presence of thousands of passionate fans in Rustam-e-Punjab Dangal which was held under the arrangements of SBP. In other major fights, Malu Pehlwan vs Tayyab Pehlwan, Junaid Pachar Pehlwan beat Moeen Ali Pehlwan, Sajawal Goonga Pehlwan beat Irfan Pehlwan, Current Pehlwan beat Qamar Pehlwan, Gullu Pehlwan beat Nauman Pehlwan, Javed Pehlwan beat Saifullah Pehlwan, HasanPehlwan beat Haider Pehlwan.
Elaborating more events of Annual Sports Calendar, Dr Asif Tufail said: “We will also hold the fastest athlete competition while U-16 sports events and senior sports events will also be held as per our Annual Sports Calendar programme. It is a comprehensive Annual Sports Calendar with complete timeline and dates, which has also been made part of Punjab’s first ever sports policy.” He added: “Now our all players including juniors, seniors and amateur players know about their respective sports events, cash prize and scholarship etc. All Sports Board Punjab members have really put in extraordinary hard work in the preparation of Annual Sports Calendar Programme. We have submitted our strategy to govt in which we have allocated 40 percent of total budget for players and sports activities.”