ISLAMABAD - Pakistan Tenpin Bowling Federation (PTBF) Secretary Ijaz Ur Rehman met with Chairman Senate Standing Committee on Inter Provincial Coordination (IPC) Sardar Yaqoob Khan Nasir here at IPC office on Wednesday.
Talking to The Nation soon after the lengthy meeting, Ijaz said that he had a fruitful meeting with Senator Sardar Yaqoob, whom he informed that for the last year or so, Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) has come to a standstill. The federation’s day-to-day affairs have been badly hampered as the PSB is not be able to pay salaries to employees, so releasing annual grants to the affiliated federations is a far cry. In the absence of permanent Director General, the PSB has failed to conduct training camps as a number of international events are round the corner but despite our several requests, the PSB is unmoved.”
Ijaz said that way back in 2015, the PSB executive committee has given approval that an international-standard bowling alley should be constructed at the PSB premises, as it would be a joint venture and it would not only help the PSB in generating funds, but also help the federation in working on new bowlers. “I have a dream of conducting international tournament in Pakistan. I fail to understand why the mafia in PSB has been creating uncalled for hurdles since long.
“I had sold my house to construct two bowling clubs - one each in Islamabad and Rawalpindi - where we are serving the youth with less than 50 percent being charged from the bowlers. I had hired a top Malaysian coach from my personal pocket for impart international-standard training to our bowler in Islamabad, Rawalpindi and Karachi.
“Amjed Mehmood, who is a top professional bowler and obtained USBC coaching certificate from USA, has accepted to train our male and female bowlers. His stay, accommodation and ticket will cost around $5,000, while he will charge monthly $4,000. We have hired him on one-year contract. It is a huge amount and I request IPC Minister Dr Fahmida Mirza to at least order the PSB to pay a monthly salary to international coach. I assure the minister of winning international titles for the country,” he added.
Ijaz said that Sardar Yaqoob assured his all-out support to the federation and asked him to bring the documents. He also promised to include the entire matter into the next meeting’s agenda and invited him to attend the meeting as well. “I am optimistic about the outcome of the meeting with Senator Sardar Yaqoob and once again, I want to assure all that I will not only conduct international event in Pakistan as according to international rules, we need at least 24-lane alley to be able to get hosting rights. And I can guarantee that around 150 international bowlers from 100 countries will participate in the mega tournament.”
The PTBF secretary said that the 12th National Tenpin Bowling Championship 2019 will be held from March 23 at Leisure Citi Bowling Club, Jinnah Park, in which more than 1000 youngsters will be in action in nine categories including singles, doubles, team event, inter-medical college, inter-university, inter-college, inter-schools, media, deaf and women categories, while a special category, families of martyrs will, also be included in the mega championship, which carries a prize money of around Rs 1 million.
“Our Prime Minister is a sportsman and he must promote all the sports in the country. The establishment of PM Task Force on sports is a good initiative, but it must include representatives of those federations, who are result-oriented, as it will help the task force in sending ground-based recommendations. Without taking stakeholders onboard, the task force recommendations don’t have any significant impact and its working will always remain questionable,” Ijaz concluded.
