Punjab Minister for Sports, Youth Affairs and Tourism Rai Taimoor Khan Bhatti inaugurated 36th National Junior Hockey Championship at National Hockey Stadium on Thursday.
President Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) Brig (retd) Khalid Sajjad Khokhar, Secretary PHF Asif Bajwa, Chief Selector Manzoor Junior and other officials were also present on this occasion.
Punjab Minister for Sports, Youth Affairs and Tourism Rai Taimoor Khan Bhatti was warmly received by PHF officials upon reaching National Hockey Stadium. He was also introduced with participating teams on this occasion besides taking group photographs with the junior teams.
While talking to media, Punjab Minister for Sports, Youth Affairs and Tourism Rai Taimoor Khan Bhatti said it is nice to see that National Junior Hockey Championship is being organised after a gap of three years. “Definitely, National Junior Hockey Championship is a good opportunity for young players. The youngsters must avail this opportunity and remove the flaws of their game”.
Punjab Minister for Sports, Youth Affairs and Tourism Rai Taimoor Khan Bhatti said: “Hockey is our national game and we are aware of its importance. It is true that Pakistan is passing through a struggling period but we are quite confident that Pakistan will overcome its slump in hockey in near future”.
“We are planning to arrange interactive sessions of national hockey heroes with young boys at colleges and universities. These sessions will help a lot in inspiring young generation to play hockey”.
Answering a question, Punjab Minister for Sports, Youth Affairs and Tourism Rai Taimoor Khan Bhatti said: “We are planning to introduce league system in hockey and the private and corporate sector will have key role in this event. The involvement of private and corporate sector in hockey league will help a lot in resolving financial issue of hockey players and federation as well”.
President Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) Brig (retd) Khalid Sajjad Khokhar, thanked Punjab Minister for Sports, Youth Affairs and Tourism Rai Taimoor Khan Bhatti for extending valuable cooperation for the holding of 36th National Junior Hockey Championship.