Syed Zohaib Gillani of Lahore won the title of Punjab Mind Sports Masters 2022 at Nishtar Park Sports Complex the other day. Country’s biggest-ever Punjab Mind Sports Masters 2022 was organized by Sports and Youth Affairs Department Punjab at a large canopy outside the Gaddafi Stadium.
Syed Zohaib Gillani competed in the Open Men category of the grand event and won the cash prize of Rs 2 lakh. The runners-up position went to Tahir Asghar of Faisalabad followed by Aqib Javaid of Lahore. Tahir Asghar and Aqib Javaid were given cash prizes of Rs one lakh and Rs 75,000 respectively.
Aliya Ashfaq of Lodhran was declared champion in the Scrabble Under-15 competition. The second position was taken by M Akhlaq of Peshawar followed by Rameen Tariq also from Peshawar.
Overall a hefty cash prize of Rs 15 lakh was distributed among the 120 top position holders of the grand event under the directions of Punjab Minister for Sports and Youth Affairs Rai Taimoor Khan Bhatti. A total number of over 600 male and female players from all parts of the country took part in the largest chess event in Pakistan's history.
Punjab Minister for Sports and Youth Affairs Rai Taimoor Khan Bhatti and Director General Sports Punjab Javed Chohan have congratulated the winners and other position holders of the mega event.
In Men’s Above 55 category, the top position was won by Quetta’s Ijaz Mehmood while Mehak Gul of Lahore emerged triumphant in Open Women competition. In Open U-15 Boys contest, the first position was taken by Ijtaba Amer of Lahore, the title of Men’s U-1600 (FIDE rating players) was grabbed by Abdul Jabbar from Gujranwala while in Men’s Unrated contest, Toba Tek Singh’s Waseem Akhtar was adjudged winner.
Punjab Minister for Sports and Youth Affairs Rai Taimoor Khan Bhatti in a statement on Monday said that it is definitely a great honour for Sports and Youth Affairs Department Punjab to host such a massive Mind Sports event. “Certainly it was a historic event in the sports history of the country. All the male and female players of all age groups took part in the event with great amount of passion”.
Punjab Minister for Sports and Youth Affairs Rai Taimoor Khan Bhatti further said that Punjab Sports Ministry will hold more such Mind Sports events in future. “The participation of over 600 male and female players of all age groups in the Mind Sports event is not a small thing and we are quite upbeat that the
game of chess and scrabble will grow among the younger generation after the successful holding of Punjab Mind Sports Masters 2022”.
Director General Sports Punjab Javed Chohan in a statement said that it was historic indoor games event organized by the Sports and Youth Affairs Department Punjab. This event of Punjab Mind Sports Masters provided a suitable platform to chess and scrabble players of all age groups to exhibit their talent in a highly competitive environment. “We are quite hopeful that Pakistan will get several talented male and female chess and scrabble players through this grand event”.
Punjab Mind Sports Masters 2022 results
Open Men category
Position Players (City) Prize
1st Syed Zohaib Gilani (Lahore) 200,000
2nd Tahir Asghar (Faisalabad) 100,000
3rd Aqib Javaid (Lahore) 75,000
Men Above 55 category
1st Ijaz Mehmood (Quetta) 20,000
2nd Mumtaz Malghani (DG Khan) 15,000
3rd Asad Rampuri (Karachi) 10,000
Open Women category
1st Mehak Gul (Lahore) 20,000
2nd Aleena Zulfiqar (Lahore) 15,000
3rd Sehba Shah (Lahore) 10,000
Open U-15 Boys category
1st Ijtaba Amer (Lahore) 20,000
2nd Ijlal Amir (Lahore) 15,000
3rd Ahmed (Lahore) 10,000
Men’s U-1600 (FIDE rating players)
1st Abdul Jabbar (Gujranwala) 12,000
2nd Atif Sheraz Khan (Lahore) 10,000
3rd Nasir Ahmed (Lahore) 8000
Men Unrated category
1st Waseem Akhtar (TT Singh) 10,000
2nd M Shahzad (Jhang) 6000
3rd Zohaib Aleem (Lahore) 4000
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Scrabble U-15 results
Pos Players (City) Prize
1st Aliya Ashfaq (Lodhran) 15000
2nd M Akhlaq (Peshawar) 10,000
3rd Rameen Tariq (Peshawar) 8000
4th M Moiz (Lahore) 6000
5th Muskan Asghar (Peshawar) 4000
6th Anas Rahim (Peshawar) 2000
7th M Shoaib (Peshawar) 2000
8th Ahtasham (Lahore) 2000
9th Hassan (Quetta) 2000
10th Shahab Naseer (Peshawar) 2000.