17th Sindh Games kick off in Karachi

KARACHI: The 17th edition of the Sindh Games kicked off in Karachi, with the hosts taking the first gold medal on the opening day of the games.

The torch relay ceremony kicked off at Quaid's mosulaoeum with Sindh Sports Minister Mohammed Bux Khan initiating the ceremony.

Athlete Moeed Baloch who earlier created a new record in the 200-meter race, finishing the race in 21.96 seconds beating his previous record of 22.50 seconds will be carrying the torch from the Quaid's mausoleum to Pakistan Sports Board in Karachi.

With the games facing criticism due to lack of facilities, the sports minister has ensured that he is working on improving the conditions.

In the 5,000 meter race, Karachi’s Arbab Tanoli bagged a gold, while Sukkar’s Mohib Ullah took silver and Hyderabad’s Ahmed Khan took bronze. The 800-meter race also saw Karachi bagging another gold thanks to Akram while Hyderabad’s Hassan claimed a silver and Karachi’s Imam Majeed took home the bronze.

In the men's netball event, Mirpurkhas beat Sukkur with a scoreline of 9-5, while Larkana beat Benazirabad 9-2.

In the women's netball event, Benazirabad beat Sukkur 2-0, while Mirpurkhas beat Larkana 6-0.

Slated as one of the most expensive games ever at a total cost of Rs45 million, the games will be held across 15 different venues across the city. However, there are reports that the players are deprived of basic facilities such as water at the games while officials arranging the games complained that the cheques given to them have bounced. The opening ceremony of the Sindh Games will be held at the National Coaching Centre at 4pm today. Governor Sindh Mohammad Zubair will be the chief guest. Around 3,000 athletes from the six divisions of the province will be participating in the games from Hyderabad, Mirpurkhas, Larkana, Sukkur, Benazirabad and Karachi. A total of 30 events will be hosted for the male athletes while female athletes will showcase their talent in 17 events over the next four days.