WAPDA’s Nisar Ahmed was crowned as King of the Mountain after winning Abbottabad to Nathiagali Cycle Race for third time in succession while the main team trophy was won by SSGCS.
Nisar Ahmed of WAPDA paddled the 32 kms race in one hour and 43 minutes and 10 seconds (01:43:10) to finish first in the King of the Mountain Abbottabad to Nathiagali cycle race for the third consecutive year. Second and third positions were won by Army’s sprinters as Mohammad Ismail and Mohammad Asad covered this distance in (01:43:12) and (01:43:28) respectively. Fourth to sixth spots were taken by the cyclists from Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) as Habibullah (01:43:31), Zameer Ahmed (01:45:01) and Naimat Ali (01:47:05) respectively managed to record their names in the winning six. The jury awarded the team trophy to SSGC on securing maximum points as a playing unit. In all 42 cyclists from 9 teams from Sindh, Punjab, Khyber PK, Balochistan, Islamabad, FATA, Army, Railway, SSGC, WAPDA and Afghanistan contested the competition. The race that started from the office of Board of Secondary Education, Murree Road Abbottabad at 09:00 am, concluded at Nathiagali bazar. The cyclists mounted this 32 kms race from an altitude of 4,000 ft. sea level to 8,000 ft. sea level which is the highest in Galliyat. The race was organised under the auspices of PCF and hosted by Khyber PK Cycling Association in coordination with the local administration under the direct supervision of DCO Abbottabad Syed Imtiaz Husssain Shah who was also present at the awards distribution ceremony. The chief guest on the occasion, Minister for Sports KPK Syed Aqil Shah, presented Lala Ayub trophy to Nisar Ahmed whereas other trophies and medals were presented to the runner ups.
Speaking on the occasion the Minister Sports lauded PCF for successfully organising the event and said that participation of Afghanistan’s team will send a positive message across the sporting world encouraging them to field their teams in the various competitions being held in Pakistan. President PCF Munawar Baseer thanked the local administration. Secretary PCF Syed Azhar Ali Shah announced that PCF’s next event would be Champions of the Hill Islamabad to Murree Cycle Race on December 25, 2011, that would commemorate the birthday of Quaid-e-Azam Muhammad Ali Jinnah.
