LAHORE - The Martyr Millat Liaquat Ali Khan SSB Trophy Basketball Tournament was officially inaugurated by A.D. Gopang, Section Officer of the Sports Department of Government of Sindh, under the auspices of the Firdous Ittehad and SOA. The opening ceremony was attended by various distinguished personalities, including Ghulam Muhammad Khan, Director of Sports for Karachi Commissioner, M Shahid Khan from SSB, and Fariha Aqib, a representative of the Russian Consulate. In his address, A.D. Gopang urged athletes to excel not only in sports but also in education. He assured them of Sindh govt’s full support in their endeavors. Ghulam Muhammad Khan said the Sports Department has elevated Sindh’s name through its performance across Pakistan and acknowledged the development opportunities provided to Sindh’s athletes. In the opening match of the tournament, Sardar Muhammad Bakhsh Khan Mehr’s team beat Jalaluddin Mehr’s team by 65-59.
For the winning team, Daniyal Marwat scored 18 points, followed by Sameer Saleem with 16, Abdul Samad with 12, and Haroon Khan with 10 points.
The match officiated by M Ashraf, Zulfiqar Abbas Khan, and Raj Kumar Lakhwani as referees, while M Naeem, M Usman, and Michael Turner served as technical officials. The match commenced with a prayer for the martyrs led by former Pakistan Army basketball player Captain Muhammad Zafar.