Punjab is blessed with plenty of sports talent:Jahangir Khanzada

By:Nawaz Gohar

LAHORE:  Punjab Minister for Sports Jahangir Khanzada said Punjab is blessed with plenty of sports talent and it will complete hat-trick of success in Quaid-i-Azam Inter-Provincial Games next year, he made this prediction while addressing the grand prize distribution ceremony held to honour the medal-winners of 2nd Quaid-i-Azam Inter-Provincial Games at National Hockey Stadium on Thursday night.

Secretary Sports Punjab Muhammad Aamir Jan and ex-PHF chief Olympian Akhtar Rasool also addressed the grand ceremony. MPA Farzana Butt, Director Sports Anees Sheikh, Deputy Directors Tariq Wattoo, Hafeez Bhatti and a large number of sports officials and athletes were also present in the prize distribution ceremony.

Director Sports Anees Sheikh presented welcome address while senior hockey coach Shahid Nizami performed as stage secretary on this occasion.

Addressing the prize distribution ceremony Punjab Minister for Sports Jahangir Khanzada has announced to hold Punjab Games after a gap of seven years in April this year. “We are also planning to organize Punjab Inter-Divisional U-16 (Boys) Hockey Championship in April this year,” he added.

Punjab Minister for Sports Jahangir Khanzada urged the talented youngsters of the province to keep on hard work because without doing hard work you can’t achieve your goal. “Winning the Quaid-i-Azam Inter-Provincial Games and any other national tournament should not be our target. Our target must be to win international or Olympic titles. And insh-Allah our athletes will achieve this goal in near future. The victory in Quaid-i-Azam Inter-Provincial Games is the first step towards that target,” he elaborated.

Punjab Minister for Sports Jahangir Khanzada further said Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif has empowered youth of the province in every field including sports. “We have built dozens of modern sports projects in the province under the vision of Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif. Over 150 mega sports projects are on verge completion. Providing top level sports facilities till Union Council level is our mission and insha-Allah we will complete our mission in near future,” he added.

During his address, Secretary Sports Punjab Muhammad Aamir Jan said that Punjab maintained its supremacy in Quaid-i-Azam Inter-Provincial Games. “It was a national event in which win or lose does not make any difference. This event was actually designed to enhance nationalism, communication and above all brotherhood among all the regions of the country. And fortunately, we achieved this goal during the 5-day mega event. Literally this event helped a lot in minimizing the gap among all the provinces,” he maintained.

Secretary Sports Punjab Muhammad Aamir Jan further said: “Sports Board Punjab has established a top class network of sports facilities in the province. We built a quality sports infrastructure across the province. Our world class facilities can be matched with any other country of the world”.

Secretary Sports Punjab Muhammad Aamir Jan said that Punjab Games should be held regular basis at all levels from district to province. He urged the Punjab athletes not to restrict yourself to Punjab or national sports events. You must win world and Olympic titles in future.

Praising the discipline of Punjab athletes, Secretary Sports Punjab Muhammad Aamir Jan said Punjab athletes demonstrated wonderful restraint throughout the grand sporting event. “We did not receive a single complaint of any kind during the national sports event.”

Former PHF President Olympian Akhtar Rasool also appreciated the overwhelming performance of Punjab contingent during the Quaid-i-Azam Inter-Provincial Games. He asked the players to do hard work like former greats if they want to achieve great success at international level.