The Inter-Division phase of Khelta Punjab Games exploded into action with a grand colourful inaugural ceremony at the Punjab Stadium on Thursday.
Senior Punjab Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb, Provincial Minister for Sports and Youth Affairs Malik Faisal Ayub Khokhar, Punjab Information Minister Azma Bokhari and Punjab Local Govt Minister Bilal Yasin were the guests of honour on this occasion.
Besides them, senior political leaders Saiful Malook Khokhar, Ghazali Butt, MPA Hafiz Noman, MPA Shahbaz Khokhar, Commissioner Lahore Zaid bin Maqsood, Secretary Sports and Youth Affairs Punjab Muzaffar Khan Sial, Secretary Mines and Minerals Punjab Pervez Iqbal, Director General Sports Punjab Khizar Afzaal, Director Sports Rana Nadeem Anjum, Director Admin Dr M Kaleem and other notables were also present at the mega inaugural ceremony.
Top sports stars including Olympic Javelin Throw Gold Medallist Arshad Nadeem, world tennis star and President Pakistan Tennis Federation Aisamul Haq Qureshi, Rana Atif of Lahore Qalandars, weightlifter Nooh Dastgir Butt, Olympian Kh Junaid, former kabaddi captain Shafiq Chishti, international Javelin Thrower Yasir Sultan, athlete Faiqa Riaz, Olympian Shabana Akhtar and Sohail Adnan were also present on this occasion.
Over 2000 male and female players from all divisions under the leadership of their respective divisional sports officers took part in march past in the opening ceremony. President Pakistan Tennis Federation Aisamul Haq Qureshi took oath from all the participating athletes before the commencement of competitions.
Young athletes Kinza Sarfraz, Kanzul Eman, Shandana, M Abdullah, Mahnoor Imran and Shafiq Ali Khan ran with the torch and lit the Khelta Punjab Games torch at Punjab Stadium.
Besides this, several singers, regional dancers and artists won huge appreciation from a large crowd for their impressive performances. The Punjab Stadium was full of thousands of passionate sports lovers during the grand opening ceremony.
Addressing the grand opening ceremony, Provincial Minister for Sports Malik Faisal Ayub Khokhar welcomed the Punjab Chief Minister, Parliamentarians, National Heroes and young sports players to the inauguration ceremony. “Chief
Minister Punjab had announced the restoration of sports culture in her first speech after being elected chief minister of the province”.
Provincial Minister for Sports and Youth Affairs Malik Faisal Ayub Khokhar said that sports marks should be awarded to students at school and college level. “Through this measure, the sports culture could be promoted among the youth of the province quite effectively”.
Provincial Minister for Sports and Youth Affairs Malik Faisal Ayub Khokhar said that the previous government had made Punjab Sports Complexes deserted through their strange policies. “Punjab Chief Minister has allocated funds of crores of rupees and restored 58 sports complexes across the province”.
Provincial Minister for Sports and Youth Affairs Malik Faisal Ayub Khokhar further informed that 120,000 male and female athletes have registered for Khelta Punjab Games. “As many as 2,200 young players are participating in the third and last phase of Khelta Punjab Games”.
Provincial Minister for Sports and Youth Affairs Malik Faisal Ayub Khokhar further said that several of these players will become top sports stars like Olympian Arshad Nadeem and Aisam-ul-Haq in future. “6,000 talented youth are being given scholarships from Sports Endowment Fund for the first time under CM Internship Program”.
Provincial Minister for Sports and Youth Affairs Malik Faisal Ayub Khokhar said that there is no shortage of talent in Punjab. “We are quite hopeful that several new players will emerge from sports promotion measures being taken by Punjab Sports Department”.
He said that under Chief Minister Internship Programme, Rs 25,000 are being awarded to the talented youth for a period of six months. “Country’s first ever state-of-the-art Squash Complex was stalled for several decades. The coveted Squash Complex project will be completed in a period of six months at a cost of Rs 50 crore”.
Punjab Minister for Sports Malik Faisal Ayub Khokhar stated that the Chief Minister of Punjab has released an endowment fund of two billion rupees for the development of sports.