Deputy Speaker Rana Mashhood Ahmed Khan has expressed his pleasure over the popularity the Punjab Sports Festival 2012 is gaining with each passing day and hoped that the mega event which opens on August 26 will prove a big success. Addressing a gathering of journalists at an Iftar dinner arranged by Sports Board Punjab, the chairman organizing committee of the Festival said that till date there has been more than 200,000 visits to SBP website www.sportsportal.punjab.gov.pk and nearly 15000 people have registered to volunteer during the festival while there has been more than 70,000 likes on the PYF’s facebook page.
The deputy speaker also introduced Amin of Lahore who is going to establish Guinness World Record with a largest cricket ball. Director General, Sports Board Punjab and Youth Affairs Usman Anwar was also present on the occasion. Amin informed that the ball is more than ten times bigger than the normal size of the cricket ball. “The cricket ball is of 9 inches diameter while the ball I have made for the GWR is of 96 inches circumference which is six inch circumference larger than the required demand of the Guinness Book of World Record officials. He further informed that it weighs 42 kilograms and the cost of its make ranges to 250 normal size cricket balls and the same quantity of material used for that number of balls.
Rana Mashood further said that some quarters have launched baseless propaganda against the coming sports festival to promote their vested interest. He said such negative campaign will serve no purpose as the youth is taking great interest in Sports and Youth Festival. “We are organizing these events through a transparent way and we have formed various committees to have a proper check and balance system in all affairs of this grant event,” he said. He further added: “We had the similar procedure when we organized the sports festival in March last.”
He said the Punjab Chief Minister ,Mohammad Shahbaz Sharif is taking keen interest in youth development and through his dynamic vision sports are being given new dimensions in the province.
“We are in process of making new world records before and during the Sorts festival and these new marks are being recognized by the Guinness Book whose authorities have assured to send their teams to Pakistan to watch the happening these records to put them in their esteemed book.”
