All Pakistan Three by Three Ramadan Cup Basketball Tournament held in Islamabad.

All Pakistan Three by Three Ramadan Cup Basketball Tournament held in Islamabad.

(Asghar Ali Mubarak)

In Pakistan, the game of basketball is equally popular among men and women, which is why competitions in this sport continue throughout the year from school level to clubs, district, division and provincial levels across the country.

It has also become mandatory to have basketball courts in indoor and outdoor gyms in educational institutions, where players are always seen doing individual and group exercises with basketball. Along with men’s, women’s basketball is also gaining popularity rapidly.

This can be gauged from the fact that the All Pakistan Three by Three Ramadan Basketball Tournament was held in a magnificent and memorable manner at the Pakistan Sports Board, Islamabad, in which an event was also organized keeping in mind the interest of female players.

The event was organized by the Federal Basketball Association under the supervision of the Pakistan Basketball Federation at the Pakistan Sports Board, Islamabad, which included departmental teams as well as clubs and a women’s open category.

The female players participating in the tournament highly appreciated the decision of the organizers, as a result of which a large number of female basketball players participated in the tournament and showed their talents.

Eight teams participated in the departmental categories. After the round matches, WAPDA A, WAPDA B, WAPDA C and POFA made it to the semi-final line-up. In the first semi-final, WAPDA A defeated POF Wah 21-8 after a one-sided match to qualify for the title match.

Zain and Kaleem played brilliantly in the first semi-final for WAPDA A. The second semi-final was played between WAPDA B and WAPDA C, in which WAPDA B defeated WAPDA C by a score of 21-16 after an exciting match and made it to the final.

A large number of fans watched this exciting match and supported both the teams with their excellent play. In the final, WAPDA A and WAPDA B were rivals and an exciting final was expected. However,

WAPDA A adopted a merciful approach in the final and easily defeated WAPDA B by a score of 21-6. won the title by defeating WAPDA A. The excitement of all the players of WAPDA A was palpable after winning by such a large margin.

This time, 32 teams entered the Men’s Club category, in which teams from other cities besides Islamabad also participated in large numbers.

The participating teams were divided into eight pools, each pool containing four teams. Interesting competitions were also seen in the pool matches. After the end of these matches, four teams, Timberwolves A, Bulls C, Raptors A and Friends Club, made it to the semi-finals.

The high standard of play was also maintained in the semi-final matches. The first semi-final was played between the teams of Timberwolves A and Bulls C, in which Bulls C defeated their much stronger rival Timberwolves A by just one point after a tough and thrilling match and qualified for the final.

The score was 14-13 points, which can be seen from the excitement of the first semi-final. After the end of the match,

the defeated team openly praised all the players for the excellent and brilliant play of the winning team. In the second semi-final On the other hand, the competition was fierce, in which Friends Club defeated Raptors A by a score of 21-15 to confirm their place in the final.

Abdul Wahab and Ramiz Akbar played brilliantly for the winning team. In the final, Friends Club maintained the same team spirit and rhythm and pace of the game and won the title by defeating Bulls C by 17 points to 11. The final was a great competition and players from both sides played brilliantly, however, at crucial moments, Friends Club players controlled their nerves and turned the game in their favor, which proved to be the key to their success.

In the women’s category, 12 teams participated in the Women’s All Pakistan 3-by-3 Ramadan Cup Basketball Tournament, including teams from departments and clubs.

The pool matches also witnessed competitive play, after which Likens B, WAPDA B, Net Reapers and WAPDA A made it to the top four teams and qualified for the semi-final stage.

The first semi-final was played between Likens B and WAPDA B, in which WAPDA B won by a score of 11-9 after an exciting match and made it to the final. The second semi-final saw a one-sided match in which WAPDA A defeated Net Reapers by a score of 8-3 and made it to the final.

The final proved to be exciting and thrilling, in which Kainat Zafar of WAPDA A made two consecutive free throws in the extra time and made his team the champion.

These matches were supervised by Tariq Nawaz, Umar Mahmood, Yasir Ghafoor, Anwar Khan, Preem Shahzad, Gul Jamal, Rao Moazzam. Noheed, Muhammad Umar, Muhammad Faheem, MM Alam, Yasir Mujtaba, Abdullah Hadid, Hamza Iftikhar, Muhammad Tanveer and Muhammad Mudassar.

The matches of all categories of the championship were supervised in an orderly manner, which was also appreciated by all the players participating in the event.

After the finals, a grand closing ceremony was held, the special guests of which were Islamabad Olympic Association Secretary General Rizwan-ul-Haq and Vice President Sadaf Parveen,

who presented trophies and shields to the captains and players of the winning and runners-up teams.Earlier, Federal Basketball Association Secretary General and Organizing Secretary Oj Zahoor welcomed the guests at the closing ceremony,

thanked them for their presence and presented a report on the event. He reviewed the matches, teams and players’ performance of the three-day championship for the promotion and

development of basketball in the country and informed that a tripping camp is being organized for the Saba Basketball Club Championship in collaboration with the Pakistan Sports Board and the team from Pakistan will participate in the tournament to be held in Chennai, India, which will be held from April 2 to 6, 2025.

In which basketball teams from India, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Bhutan and Maldives will participate. This tournament has been declared as the qualification round for the FIBA ​​West Asia Super League.

Prominent sports personality Raj Mir from Peshawar, Chaudhry Saeed Akhtar from PSB, Chaudhry Muhammad Ashraf, Captain (R) Muhammad Ashraf Chief Security Officer, Muhammad Azam Dar and a large number of basketball fans from the twin cities were also present on the occasion.