By Nawaz Gohar ; The Special Olympics Pakistan (SOP) National Games commenced in a blaze of color and competitive spirit at the Pakistan Sports Complex, with the first 10 gold medals decided on the opening day of the three-day event.

The prestigious national tournament was officially inaugurated by Ronak Lakhani, Chief Executive of Special Olympics Pakistan.

The opening ceremony was attended by prominent sports and community figures, including SOP Board of Directors member Farrukh Abbas, Olympian Sadaf Siddiqui, and former Head of the Federal Region Mahfooz Elahi, among others.

Athletes from across the country showcased exceptional talent in the initial track and field events, with thrilling finishes across multiple categories.

Track Events: Blazing Times on the Grid
In the Men’s 400-meter race, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s (KPK) Basit Ali clinched the gold medal with an impressive time of 1 minute and 1 second. Punjab’s Muhammad Adil secured the silver medal, while Muhammad Wasif from the Federal Capital territory took home the bronze.

The Women’s 400-meter category saw Sindh’s Sadia Junaid claim the top podium spot with a time of 1 minute and 55 seconds. She was followed closely by Tabassum (1:59) in second place and Hajra Munir (2:01) in third.

The sprint events brought high-intensity action to the track:

Women’s 100m (F2 Category): Sindh dominated the podium with Saira Akram winning gold (20.00 seconds) and her fellow provincial teammate Eman Niaz taking silver (20.37 seconds). Punjab’s Sahar Safdar finished third to take bronze (20.45 seconds).

Men’s 100m (B+ Category): Punjab secured a one-two finish as Adil Khan sprinted to gold in 13.98 seconds, followed by Tayyab Waleed who took silver in 14.23 seconds. KPK’s Hammad Zahoor completed the podium with a bronze-winning time of 14.35 seconds.

Field Events: Precision and Power
The field events proved to be equally competitive, showcasing incredible strength and athletic coordination.

In the Women’s Mini-Javelin Throw, the Federal Capital territory dominated the scoreboard. Alishba Karim and Amreesh Karim delivered stellar performances to secure first and second place respectively, while Punjab’s Sahar Safdar claimed the third spot.

The Men’s Long Jump event witnessed a razor-thin margin of victory. Sindh’s Asif Ali leaped to a gold medal with a distance of 2.84 meters. Punjab’s Mahboob Rasool secured the silver medal with a 2.75-meter jump, narrowly edging out Muhammad Ahmad, who took bronze with a distance of 2.74 meters.

The action-packed three-day event continues tomorrow at the Pakistan Sports Complex, with several more sporting disciplines scheduled to take place.

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By Nawaz Gohar ; The Special Olympics Pakistan (SOP) National Games commenced with a vibrant opening ceremony in the federal capital, drawing a large number of specially-abled athletes from across the country.

The three-day sporting extravaganza was inaugurated at Jinnah Stadium, where participants delivered captivating performances that earned immense applause from the audience. The ceremony featured various athletic and cultural activities, showcasing the extraordinary spirit and resilience of the athletes.

Chairperson of Special Olympics Pakistan, Ronak Lakhani, addressed the occasion, stating that top performers from these National Games will be selected to represent Pakistan at the upcoming World Games. She emphasized that specially-abled athletes possess immense potential and are in no way behind others; hence, more opportunities are being created to facilitate their growth.

Attendees and advocates highlighted the need for greater societal support and encouragement to empower these children to excel in sports and other professional fields. Ehtisham, a participating athlete, expressed his pride in joining the event, vowing to showcase his best performance to bring honor to the nation.

The three-day event will feature various competitions, including sprint races, long jump, javelin throw, and other athletic categories.

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KARACHI : By Nawaz Gohar : Olympic gold medalist Arshad Nadeem has expressed confidence that Pakistan’s National Games will serve as a platform to identify fresh sporting talent for the country.

Speaking to media representatives in Karachi, the star javelin thrower said he is fully fit and currently focused on major upcoming international competitions, including the Diamond League, Commonwealth Games and Asian Games.

Arshad Nadeem stated that the overall sports environment in Pakistan has improved compared to the past, and he strongly believes that promising athletes will emerge in every athletics event during the National Games. He emphasized that this new generation of players has the potential to bring international recognition to Pakistan and strengthen the country’s presence on the global sports stage.

“The situation is much better now, which is why we are seeing a large number of athletes participating in the National Games,” he said. “This event will definitely produce new talent, and these players will represent Pakistan at the international level in the future.”

The Olympic champion further revealed that athletes who perform well at the National Games will be selected for the national training camp, giving them the opportunity to prepare for upcoming domestic and international competitions. He added that Pakistan is scheduled to host multiple sporting events next year, where standout performers from the Games may be given a chance to compete at a higher level.

Arshad also shared his personal goals for the tournament, stating that if he remains fit, he will strive to deliver a record-breaking throw. “My objective is always to perform better than my previous performance,” he said. “Despite struggling with injuries this year, I still managed to deliver a strong performance, and now I am fully fit and ready to compete at my best.”

Earlier, Arshad Nadeem officially inaugurated the National Games by making the ceremonial javelin throw. He entered the stadium waving the national flag, receiving an enthusiastic welcome from spectators and fellow athletes alike.

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35 Players Selected for Camp.

Karachi ; Trials for the 35th National Games Girls hockey event in Karachi were held at the Olympian Hanif Khan and Dr. Junaid Ali Shah Hockey Stadium at KHA Sports Complex,

Gulshan-e-Iqbal Under the supervision of Chairman Selection Committee Sindh Hockey Association Olympian Iftikhar Syed, 35 best Women players were selected for the first phase from among the players who participated in the trials.

A training camp for the Sindh Women Hockey team consisting of selected players will be held at the KHA Sports Complex.

The names of the selected players are as follows:

Goal Keepers ; 1 Shazma Naseem 2 Fiza Saleem 3 Yusra Mubeen 4 Musfirah Rashid 5 Maryam Fayaz 6 Mehwish

Full Backs ; 1 Syeda Ayesha 2 Shifaat Zehra 3 Nida Ghouri 4 Hafsa 5 Hamna Nadeem 6 Dua Yaseen ،

7 Humera Niaz 8 Rabiya 9 Subhana Akhter

Half Backs ؛ 1 Iqra Iqbal 2 Mehak Yaseen 3 Rija Moeez 4 Azra Batool 5 Musfirah Furqan 6 Gulnaz ،

7 Aisha Nadeem 8 Tehreem Hameed

Forwards ؛ 1 Momal Saqena 2 Mishal Baloch 3 Faiza Altaf  4 Riffat Fatima 5 Saima Ghulam 6 Aisha Arif ،
7 Mubashira Furqan 8 Mahnoor 9 Asiya Mahar 10 Umna Fatima 11 Rushda Fatima 12 Muqaddas Rafiq ،
13 Sehrish 14 Maheen Ali 15 Huma Amani 16 Maryam Zahid  17 Samina Tabassum ،

Olympian Hanif Khan Pride of Performance, Olympic Gold Medalist, Honorary Secretary General of Karachi Hockey Association is happy with the participation of more than 80 Girls from all over the province in the trials of Sindh Women Hockey Team, which will be participated in the upcoming 35th National Games 2025 Karachi.

He is convinced that Sindh Women’s Team will surely perform well in the Tournament. He further ensured that best facilities and coaching will be shared with the players in the training camp.

Olympian Iftikhar Syed Chairman Selection Committee of Sindh Hockey Association has announced the short listed 35 Women players for the training camp, finalized team will be selected later after the training camp.

Mrs Asma Shah President KHA Women’s Wing appreciated all the girls, she said that the Women players of the province are also very talented, and capable of winning medals in the 35th National Games as well as any other Tournament.

The trials were also observed by SOA Monitoring Committee members Ms. Majida Hameed and Ms Kausar.
Trials Coordinators were Khalid Munir, Muzammil Hussain and Hassan Askari.

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 players will perform brilliantly in the National Games, Begum Ishrat Ashraf

Islamabad, Nawaz Gohar —  Islamabad Olympic Association Holds Executive Committee Meeting to Discuss Participation in National Games 2025

The Executive Committee meeting of the Islamabad Olympic Association was held at Best Western Hotel, Islamabad, under the chairmanship of Begum Ishrat Ashraf, President of the Association.

The meeting brought together key office bearers including Mr. Muhammad Sarwar Rana, Senior Vice President; Mr. Rizwan ul Haq, Secretary General; Mr. Ijaz ul Haq, Treasurer; and members of the Executive Committee.

The primary agenda of the meeting was Islamabad’s preparation and participation in the upcoming National Games, scheduled to be held in Karachi in May 2025. The Executive Committee reviewed organizational matters and resolved to ensure full participation and effective representation of Islamabad athletes at the prestigious national event.

To streamline preparations and promote effective coordination, the Association announced the formation of the following committees:

• Sports Commission chaired by Mr. Muhammad Sarwar Rana, to oversee athlete preparation and coordination with affiliated sports bodies.

• Marketing and Sponsorship Committee chaired by Mr. Ejaz Rafi Butt, to explore sponsorship opportunities and develop strategic partnerships.

• Finance Committee chaired by Miss Sadaf Parveen, to manage budget planning and ensure transparent financial operations.

President Begum Ishrat Ashraf emphasized the importance of providing Islamabad’s athletes with all necessary support and expressed confidence that the capital’s contingent will perform with excellence at the National Games.

The Islamabad Olympic Association remains committed to the promotion and development of sports in the region and ensuring that local athletes are empowered to achieve their highest potential.

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Zubair Ullah of Peshawar recorded a stunning run with his wheelchair by crossing the distance with a big bang and won the most deserving gold medal and Sher Khan from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, got silver medal.

It was a golden day for another promising athlete Zainab Noor who recorded a double gold medal in the Women Wheelchair category by winning gold medal in 100m dash and 200m race. Zainab Noor has repeated her performance for the second consecutive year as last in the 27th edition of the Games, she also won gold medal in 100m and during the finish also got head injuries due to wheelchair crush with another female player.

In the 100m wheelchair race Zainab won gold medal and Laila Noor grabbed the silver medal and in the 200m again Zainab won gold medal and Husna took silver medal.

In the CP Race Category, male Ali Abbas of Lahore won the gold medal for Punjab, followed by Manzoor of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. It was the first gold medal for Punjab when Ali Abbas grabbed.

In the Dwarf Race, the most fascinating race wherein two races were conducted and more than 30 Dwarf participated. Noor Zaman of Kohat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, won the gold medal, followed by Abdullah of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

In the Crutches 100m Umair of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa with his one foot crossed the distance by grabbing gold medal and Farman of Bajaur, another standing handicap, got silver medal.

In the Javelin throw (standing) Farman of KP won gold medal, followed by Fahim of Lahore, in the Discuss throw Adil of Peshawar won gold medal and Mohib took silver medal, in the shot put standing Mian Jan won gold medal, followed by Yasin, both from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

In the Powerlifting Standing Gulsher won gold medal, Ghulam Muhammad of Sindh got silver medal, in the Tug of War Peshawar won first match by defeating Abbottabad in the opening match. The overall Tug of War competitions between the provinces would be played on Sunday, Taj Muhammad informed

.

In the SWARF Cricket match, Karak Zalmi team defeated Peshawar Arts team by six wickets after chasing the 50 runs target setup by Peshawar Arts team on just 21 balls in a dramatically ended match witnessed by the capacity crowd present on this occasion.

Peshawar Arts won the toss and elected to bat first by setting up 50 runs in 10 overs, Shahnawaz made 20 runs including three boundaries, Arshad scored 16 runs with three boundaries being the highest contributors. Luqman and Fazal-e-Elahi got one wicket each.

In reply, it was cracking batting by Noor Zaman who struck five boundaries and one six in his 28 runs vital knock by steering the team to victory. Arshad and Abdullah got one wicket each.

Thus Karak Zalmi won the match by 6 wickets. In the basketball opening match Peshawar defeated Bannu by 16-6.

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33rd National Games-Army wins 33rd National Games Quaid-e-Azam trophy, KP take fairplay trophy

By Ijaz Ahmad PESHAWAR, Nov 16 : Pakistan Army clinched the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy for the 24th times when its secured 7909 points with 150 gold

medals, 134 silver and 96 bronze medals and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa awarded fairplay trophy of the 33rd National Games which concluded after

a colourful closing ceremony.Governor Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Shah Farman was the chief guest on this occasion. He also awarded awarded the Quiad-e-

Azam trophy to Pakistan Army and fairplay to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa’s two gold medalists Murad Ahmad (karate) and Murad Ali (Badminton). Besides Governor President Pakistan Olympic Association Lt. Gen (Retd) Arif

Hassan, Secretary Khalid Mehmood, President KP Olympic Association Syed Aqil Shah, Secretary Sports Kamran Rehman, Director General Sports Asfandyar Khattak, Managing Director Tourism Corporation Junaid Khan,

players and large number of spectators were also present.It was a tight security measures in and around the Peshawar Sports Complex by the

security forces to ensure security to the 10,000 players’ part of the 33rd edition of the National Games. Besides Pakistan Army, Pakistan Wapda secured second position with 7093 points when it grabbed 148 gold medal, 99 silver medals and 73 bronze medals. Pakistan Railways got fourth

position with 1815 points with 12 gold, 20 silver medals and 73 bronze medals.Pakistan Navy took fourth position with 1770 points with 21 Gold, 24 Silver and 22 Bronze Medals. PAF got 1426 points, 11 gold, 16 silver and

31 bronze medals. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa remained at seventh with 1287 points, by grabbing two gold, five silver and 34 bronze medals.HEC with 11

gold medal, 11 silver and 38 bronze medals got 8th position. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa won more medals and points than HEC in 33rd National

Games, which is a huge achievement. HEC players have been on the points table before, but this time KP players performing 1285 points with ‘two gold’ five silver medals and 34 bronze medals.Earlier, the grand closing

ceremony was started with the recitation from the Holy Quran by Hina Khan, followed by well prepared National Anthem by the children of

Agriculture Model School.A total of 10,000 athletes from 14 different units including Pakistan Army, Pakistan Air Force, Pakistan Navy, Punjab, Pakistan Police, Sindh, Balochistan, Wapda, Railways, HEC, Gilgit-Baltistan,

Islamabad, Azad Jammu and Kashmir and host Khyber Pakhtunkhwa took part in the mega event.The Games is costing cost Rs 220 million which aimed at to portray a soft image of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in rest of the world. “We are peace loving and believe in peace and through this mega

national games, we are giving a message of peace to the rest of the world,” Governor Shah Farman said in brief talks soon after arrival.International-standard facilities at Abdul Wali Khan Sports Complex, Charsadda,

Hayatabad Sports Complex, Peshawar, Jamrud Sports Complex, Khyber District, Peshawar Sports Complex and Abbottabad Sports Complex hosted

all the 32 Men and 27 Women disciplines. It is worth mentioning here that KP got the honor of holding these Games for the 7th times earlier KP organized these Games in 1958, 1974, 1982, 1990, 1998 and 2010.

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33rd National Games conclude with a grand closing ceremony

Punjab takes first position among provinces

LAHORE (Nov 16, 2019): The 33rd National Games concluded with a grand closing ceremony at Qayyum Stadium, Peshawar on Saturday.

Governor KP Shah Farman was the chief guest at the closing ceremony. Senior Provincial Minister Atif Khan, Pakistan Olympic Association (POA) President Lt-Gen (retd) Arif Hasan, President Punjab Olympic Association Amir Jan and other guests were also present on this occasion.

Punjab, with 1622 points and 49 medals including 1 gold, 14 silver and 34 bronze medals got first position among provinces and finished at 5th place in the grand event.

Pakistan Army won the 33rd edition of National Games with 7909 points and 380 medals including 150 gold, 134 silver and 96 bronze medals. Wapda remained runners up with 7093 points and 320 medals including 148 gold, 99 silver and 73 bronze medals.

Punjab’s trophy was received by President Punjab Olympic Association Amir Jan at the closing ceremony. Director Sports Hafeez Bhatti was Chef de Mission of Punjab contingent at the closing ceremony.

Punjab Minister for Sports, Youth Affairs and Tourism Rai Taimoor Khan Bhatti and Director General Sports Punjab Adnan Arshad Aulakh, on Saturday, congratulated Punjab contingent for winning top position among provinces in the 33rd National Games.

In a joint greeting message, Punjab Minister for Sports, Youth Affairs and Tourism Rai Taimoor Khan Bhatti and Director General Sports Punjab Adnan Arshad Aulakh lauded the performance of Punjab athletes in the national sports extravaganza. They expressed hope that Punjab athletes will offer even better performance in the next edition of National Games.

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Quetta :-Pakistan’s National Games are less than two months away and this year’s hosting city – Quetta is up for a challenge to ready their stadium for the upcoming event.

The 33rd National Games, which is scheduled to start from April 22 to 29, will include various games. Men will be participating in 33 games and women athletes will be competing in 22 different games. Over 7, 000 athletes and their coaches from all across Pakistan are expected to participate in this event.

On the other hand, the hosting city Quetta has still not prepared the stadium for the event. If the administration fails to complete the restoration of Ayub Stadium, the event will be shifted to another city.

Ayub Stadium’s football ground is still missing its pavilion and looks barren without any grass.

Running track, hockey ground, volleyball, tennis and squash courts have not been renovated and no work has been done so far.

Squash court still unprepared for the upcoming National Games which will be held in April

For cycling there are is velodrome nor has there been any construction initiated for a swimming pool.

Pakistan’s Olympic Association sent a team from Islamabad for the inspection of the stadium. The team were displeased by the management’s work.

Speaking to Dunya News, the inspection team said that they hoped the construction and renovation would be completed in time adding that it already suffered major delays. They added that this time it was Balochistan’s turn to host the games, and that should materialise.

For renovations Rs. 710 million, and for the other expenditures such as lodging and transport of the athletes Rs. 300 million were allocated.

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