LAHORE: Punjab contingent won 49 medals in the first two days of the Quaid-e-Azam Inter-Provincial Games which began on Monday at Liaquat Gymnasium, Islamabad.
Punjab players displayed wonderful skills and overwhelmed their opponents quite comfortably in different competitions. Punjab’s medals tally includes 23 gold, 18 silver and 8 bronze medals. Out of the 49 medals, female players have won 15 gold, 14 silver and 3 bronze medals while male players managed to clinch 8 gold, 4 silver and 5 bronze medals.
Punjab Secretary Sports Muhammad Aamir Jan congratulated the Punjab players for their outstanding performance.
In the athletics meet, Punjab girls grabbed 5 gold and 5 silver medals. In badminton the girls secured 5 gold, 6 silver and 1 bronze medal. In the judo event, the girls took 3 gold, 3 silver and 2 bronze medals while the Punjab karate girls secured 2 gold medals so far.
On the boys’ side, the judo contingent won 6 gold and 1 bronze medal. The athletics team won 2 gold, 2 silver and 3 bronze medals. In the karate contests, the boys secured 2 silver and one bronze medal.
In snooker, Usman, Mudassar Raza and Umer have confirmed their places in the semifinals. Punjab kabaddi team also reached the semifinal stage after beating Islamabad and Khyber Pakhtunkhawa by 32-10 and 45-18 respectively. Punjab boys and girls badminton teams also sailed into the final after defeating their respective opponents.
Meanwhile, Punjab Minister for Sports Jahangir Khanzada while talking to the media on Tuesday at Liaqat Gymnasium said that the Quaid-i-Azam Inter-Provincial Games have turned out to be a famous sports event for the young generation and the young talented players of the country have shown great amount of passion for this event.
Khanzada was the chief guest at lawn tennis, volleyball, snooker, karate and judo competitions. Sports Director Muhammad Anees Sheikh was also with him on this occasion.
The minister added that 385-member Punjab contingent is performing excellently and it will maintain its tradition to win maximum number of medals in the 2nd edition of Quaid-i-Azam Inter-Provincial Games. “Our players are quite confident of outplaying their opponents in the prescribed events of the games,” he added.
Sports Director Anees Sheikh said Pakistan will get plenty of talented players from such a large sports event in the federal capital.
