LAHORE: The Inter-Division phase of Khelta Punjab Games exploded into action with a grand colourful inaugural ceremony at the Punjab Stadium on Thursday.
Senior Punjab Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb, Provincial Minister for Sports and Youth Affairs Malik Faisal Ayub Khokhar, Punjab Information Minister Azma Bokhari and Punjab Local Govt Minister Bilal Yasin were the guests of honour on this occasion.
Besides them, senior political leaders Saiful Malook Khokhar, Ghazali Butt, MPA Hafiz Noman, MPA Shahbaz Khokhar, Commissioner Lahore Zaid bin Maqsood, Secretary Sports and Youth Affairs Punjab Muzaffar Khan Sial, Secretary Mines and Minerals Punjab Pervez Iqbal, Director General Sports Punjab Khizar Afzaal, Director Sports Rana Nadeem Anjum, Director Admin Dr M Kaleem and other notables were also present at the mega inaugural ceremony.
Top sports stars including Olympic Javelin Throw Gold Medallist Arshad Nadeem, world tennis star and President Pakistan Tennis Federation Aisamul Haq Qureshi, Rana Atif of Lahore Qalandars, weightlifter Nooh Dastgir Butt, Olympian Kh Junaid, former kabaddi captain Shafiq Chishti, international Javelin Thrower Yasir Sultan, athlete Faiqa Riaz, Olympian Shabana Akhtar and Sohail Adnan were also present on this occasion.
Over 2000 male and female players from all divisions under the leadership of their respective divisional sports officers took part in march past in the opening ceremony.
President Pakistan Tennis Federation Aisamul Haq Qureshi took oath from all the participating athletes before the commencement of competitions.
Young athletes Kinza Sarfraz, Kanzul Eman, Shandana, M Abdullah, Mahnoor Imran and Shafiq Ali Khan ran with the torch and lit the Khelta Punjab Games torch at Punjab Stadium. Addressing the grand opening ceremony, Provincial Minister for Sports Malik Faisal Ayub Khokhar welcomed the Punjab Chief Minister, Parliamentarians, National Heroes and young sports players to the inauguration ceremony.
Faisal Ayub said that sports marks should be awarded to students at school and college level. “Through this measure, the sports culture could be promoted among the youth of the province quite effectively,” said Faisal.
He added that as many as 2200 young players are participating in the third and last phase of Khelta Punjab Games. “There is no shortage of talent in Punjab. We are quite hopeful that several new players will emerge from sports promotion measures being taken by Punjab Sports Department,” said Faisal.
He said that under Chief Minister Internship Programme Rs 25,000 are being awarded to the talented youth for a period of six months while the CM has released an endowment fund of two billion rupees for the development of sports.
