LAHORE- The 70-member Indian contingent returned home today after participating in the Pakistan-India Punjab games held under the banner of Punjab Youth Festival (PYF) 2014.
The officials of Sports Board Punjab (SBP) saw off the guest delegation at the Wagah border. During their stay in Lahore, the neighboring athletes featured in arm-wrestling, kabaddi, tug-of-war, wrestling and weightlifting events. Pakistani athletes dominated the Punjab Games competitions; however, the visiting women team took the honors in kabaddi title clash.
Talking to media at the border, the Indian players declared the Pakistan-India Punjab games as a remarkable event. The emotional Indian players expressed their hope that such games would continue in future. Head of Indian contingent Arvinder Singh said “The love and respect we received during our stay in Pakistan can’t be described in words. The warm hospitality of the people of Lahore was unforgettable.”
Indian athletes Sakhwinder Singh, Sandeep Singh, Karmeet Singh, Satnam Singh and Dharminder Singh said that they couldn’t defeat Pakistani players at their home grounds but they were quite happy to win the hearts of the people during their stay in Pakistan.
Indian women players Anu Rani, Mandeep Kaur, Priyanka Devi were quite satisfied after visiting Pakistan. “It’s just like our home atmosphere. There is no difference between Lahore and Chandigarh. We want to play again on Pakistan soil,” they added.
Earlier, a dinner was arranged in honor of Indian delegation, participated by Pakistani and Indian players along with Punjab Sports Minister Rana Mashhood Ahmad Khan and Punjab Sports Board Director General Usman Anwar. The audience generously admired the guest players for their dance during the ceremony.
