BEIJING - Pakistani youth delegation visited Beijing’s biggest Sports University on Wednesday afternoon.

Pakistani 100-member delegation was divided into three groups, as Group-2 consisted of athletes from Pakistan, who had won laurels at international stage. Beijing University head of department welcomed Pakistani delegation and took them to different sporting facilities including wushu, table tennis, athletics, gymnastic, basketball, volleyball and handball, while Pakistani delegation was also shown the latest indoor stadium, where Chinese national team players train for upcoming events.

Pakistani delegation was given wushu lessons by Chinese top international coach Tiger, who gave first 20 minutes verbal lesson to all the delegates and then around 20 male and female group members, which include national taekwondo player, Sibtain Hussain, international karate player Shahida and international taekwondo player from Balochistan Tahir Ali, were also given demonstration for more than 30 minutes. Each and every member of the delegation thoroughly enjoyed the lessons and physical demonstration. Tiger then informed about the significance of learning wushu and how it can be used for self-defence. He also invited Pakistani wushu players to come to China and get free training.

Then the delegation was also taken to table tennis hall, where kids of 7 years to 80 years male and female players were practising and sharpening their skills. An 80-year-old couple namely Wang Fu along with his wife Lee was also playing there. When this scribe went and talked to the couple, they said: “We have played ping pong at national levels and were married for over 50 years. But we come here to play table tennis regularly, as it is good game to maintain fitness levels.”

The delegation also visited gymnastic hall, where young Chinese girls and boys were getting training from top coaches. It was really wonderful to witness the youngsters of this age involved in healthy activities, which shows why Chinese have been ruling the sports world. They are not only investing heavily on the youngsters, but they have also appointed right man for right job. They have hired former greats to train generation next, unlike of Pakistan, where near and dear ones are obliged and no heed is paid to think about professionalism.

The young boys and girls were also busy in volleyball and gymnastic, the acrobatics on display at such young age was really eye-catching and enough to prove the commitment of the Chinese towards sports. The huge infrastructure in sports and hiring of world’s best coaches also clearly indicates that Chinese are setting their sights on grabbing number one position from USA and the time is not far when China will do it as well.

It is the need of the hour that Pakistan Sports Board and IPC Ministry must send top Pakistani players, athletes and coaches to China through exchange programmes, as Pakistan is lacking far behind and that is just because of non-professionalism. Pakistan is blessed with immense amount of raw talent, but the only need is to hire right man for right job and provide opportunities to the deserving athletes.

To make the visit remarkable, a basketball match was also played between Sadiq Public School Bahawalpur students, who are part of the delegation and Chinese youth basketball team. It was a treat to watch, as Sadiq Public School basketball team skipper Basit Hassan played superbly and he was ably supported by Rai Abbas and Qamar Abbas, as they outclassed Chinese Youth team 60-34. Hamood Rehman from Pakistan netball team also played superbly for the winning team. It was 20-minute match, with 10 minutes each half. Sadiq Public School was leading 34-18 by the end of first half. Basit scored 24 baskets in the first half and Pakistan was leading 60-34 when the referee blew the final whistle. Basit scored total 40 baskets, while Rai Abbas 15, Qamar Abbas 10 and Hamood 5 baskets.

The gifts were also given to Pakistani delegation and Chinese head of university promised to arrange Chinese students and athletes visit to Pakistan soon. After spending more than 4 hours in the university, the delegation left for Pakistan embassy to Beijing, where Pakistan ambassador to China Masood Khalid hosted a grand reception in honour of Pakistan delegation.