LAHORE    -  The Sports Board Punjab (SBP) organised a grand ceremony here at the Punjab International Swim­ming Complex on Tuesday to honour three powerlifter sisters - Twinkle Sohail, Sybil Sohail and Veronica Sohail, who clinched 15 gold medals in Asian Pacific Afri­can Combined Powerlifting Cham­pionship in South Africa. 

Secretary Sports Punjab Muzaf­far Khan Sial and DG Sports Pun­jab Pervez Iqbal were the guests of honour on this occasion. Direc­tor Admin Dr M Kaleem, Director Sports Yasmeen Akhtar, Deputy Director Zahoor Ahmed, Adminis­trator Punjab Swimming Complex Amir Shah, Chairman Desi Khushti Federation Nadeem Pehlwan and father of three sisters Mr Sohail were also present on this occasion. 

Talking to media on this oc­casion, Secretary Sports Punjab said that winning 15 gold medals is a great achievement and defi­nitely it is a historic occasion for the country. “Without any doubt, the Sohail Sisters grabbed a great respect for the country on foreign soil,” he added. 

He said that the three female players have been helped in ev­ery possible way according to the vision of Punjab Chief Minister Maryam Nawaz and the direction of Punjab Minister for Sports Ma­lik Faisal Ayub Khokhar. “Punjab Sports Department will continue to provide more facilities to ath­letes for the preparation of inter­national sports competitions in­cluding Commonwealth Games.” 

DG Sports Punjab Pervez Iqbal, in his media talk, said that the three sisters have earned great respect for the country by win­ning 15 gold medals. “The way Sohail sisters have achieved suc­cess in the international power­lifting competition, it is definitely a great inspiration and motivation for young girls and women.”He as­sured Sohail sister of all possible facilities for their preparation and participation in Commonwealth Games and other international powerlifting competitions. 

The three sisters also expressed their gratitude to Chief Minister Punjab Maryam Nawaz, Punjab Minister for Sports Malik Faisal Ayub Khokhar, Secretary Sports Muzaffar Khan Sial and DG Sports Punjab Pervez Iqbal for extending the best facilities that made this great achievement possible. “The facilities provided to us by CM Pun­jab Maryam Nawaz and her entire team at Sports Board Punjab moti­vated us to prepare thoroughly for the international event, resulting in our milestone achievement of earning 15 gold medals for Paki­stan,” they asserted. “We are eager to work even harder, and with im­proved facilities and sponsorship, we aim to achieve even greater global successes for Pakistan.”