Olympians XI edged out Pakistan Greens XI by a narrow margin of 4-3 in an exhibition Quaid-e-Azam Day hockey match at newly-laid astro-turf of National Hockey Stadium on Monday.
Adviser to Chief Minister Punjab on Sports and Youth Affairs Wahab Riaz, Caretaker Provincial Minister for Housing and Auqaf Azfar Ali Nasir and Caretaker Provincial Minister for Education Mansoor Qadir were the guests of honour of the high-profile match.
Director General Sports Punjab Dr Asif Tufail, Director Sports Yasmeen Akhtar, Director Youth Affairs Rana Nadeem Anjum and Deputy Director Ataur Rahman, Deputy Director Chand Perveen, Assistant Director M Waseem, provincial coach Zareena Waqar and other officials were also present on this occasion.
The high-profile match also witnessed the presence of several legendary Olympians such as former captain Akhtar Rasool, Secretary PHF Rana Mujahid, former secretaries PHF Shahbaz Sr and Asif Bajwa, M Saqlain, M Usman, Kh Junaid, M Shafqat and Anjum Saeed.
Adviser to Chief Minister Punjab on Sports and Youth Affairs Wahab Riaz presented souvenirs to Caretaker Provincial Minister for Housing and Auqaf Azfar Ali Nasir and Caretaker Provincial Minister for Education Mansoor Qadir prior to the match.
Adviser to CM Punjab on Sports Wahab Riaz along with other ministers and Director General Sports Punjab Dr Asif Tufail also cut a cake to celebrate the birth anniversary of Quaid-i-Azam.
The match was organized Punjab Sports Department under the directions of Director General Sports Punjab Dr Asif Tufail who also distributed prizes among the players and souvenirs to the hockey greats and officials. Secretary PHF Rana Mujahid also presented a souvenir to Director General Sports Punjab Dr Asif Tufail.
Talking to media, Adviser to Chief Minister Punjab on Sports and Youth Affairs Wahab Riaz said the presence of such a large number of hockey greats at the match definitely proved to be a big inspiration for young hockey players. He paid great tributes to Quaid-i-Azam for his influential role in the creation of Pakistan.
Adviser to Chief Minister Punjab on Sports and Youth Affairs Wahab Riaz also greeted Christian community on the occasion of Christmas. He also lauded the contribution of Christian community in the development of country.
Answering a question, Adviser to Chief Minister Punjab on Sports and Youth Affairs Wahab Riaz said Sports and Youth Affairs Department is also going to organise hockey league in a bid to revive the national game of Pakistan. “Sports Board Punjab and PHF are making collective efforts to organize an international hockey event at National Hockey Stadium,” he added.
Akhtar Rasool was the manager, Asif Bajwa was coach while Shahbaz Sr was the captain of Olympians XI. Mujahid Afzal was the skipper of Pakistan Greens XI which was managed by Habib ur Rehman. Director Youth Affairs Rana Nadeem Anjum was also part of Pakistan Greens playing XI.
Showing glimpses of their illustrious past, the Olympians struck four beautiful goals through Shafqat Malik, Shahbaz Sr, Shahid Gill and M Usman. Pakistan Greens XI also exhibited wonderful hockey but lost the match by slim difference. Rana Waleed netted two goals while the third goal was scored by M Ammad the losing team.