Inter-district Under-21 tournament kickoffs in Peshawar

PESHAWAR: The Inter-Districts Under-21 games for as many as 35 districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have begun under the Directorate General of Sports in the provincial capital Peshawar on Monday.

Provincial Minister for Labour Shaukat Yousafzai and Minister for Health and Finance Taimour Saleem Jhagra inaugurated the games in a colorful ceremony at the Peshawar Sports Complex.

Over the next four days, more than 5,000 players from 35 districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa will be contesting in 10 different games, including field hockey, table tennis, judo, karate, taekwondo, gymnastics, osho, weightlifting, wrestling and basketball.

The games were officially opened with a spectacular display of fireworks. All players, dressed in colorful kits, and led by former international players and District Sports Officers marched past the podium at the beginning of the event.

While addressing the players and spectators, Chief Guest Taimour Saleem Jhagra said that gathering such a large number of players from all over the province was indeed a matter of pride and success for the provincial government. “The players will try their best in all games and the victory will be of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Pakistan. Peshawar has become the hub of sports activities. Prime Minister Imran Khan and Chief Minister Mehmood Khan have been doing great efforts for the promotion of sports in the country,” Saleem added.

“Billions rupees worth of developmental and recreational projects are ongoing in the province. An international seminar was organized at the Institute of Management Sciences (IM Sciences) Peshawar. Similarly, an event was organized about the merged districts at the Peshawar Museum. Bloom flowers event and vintage cars events were also arranged in the recent weeks,” Minister for Health and Finance added.

Saleem also highlighted the past sports events held in the capital city. “We arranged national games in Peshawar two years ago which brought the city into the spot light. Similarly, the national cricket team used to have one or two players from KP and now we have an increased number of players making it to the national team,” he highlighted.

Minister for Health added that sports teaches us tolerance, discipline and fair playing. We can learn a lot from these games and I would encourage the youth to participate in all sports to show their strengths and make their country proud of them.

Shaukat Yousafzai in his speech said that the improved peace in KP has encouraged people to participate in sports and cultural activities. “Enthusiasm and hardwork makes your dreams come true. Talent is in abundance in the province and I am hopeful that players from KP will make it to the national and international level in many games in the future,” the Minister for Labour said, while adding that three billion rupees will be spent on the construction of sports facilities across the province to provide better opportunities to players.

Director General Sports, Asfandyar Khan Khattak announced that the medal winners will be given cash prizes and best players from the games will be given monthly stipends.

The Directorate General of Sports, KP has provided the players with kits and sports equipment. The arrival of such a large number of young players from all over the province also adds colour to Peshawar’s evenings during the length of the games as the players often throng to the markets after end of day’s games.

The Directorate General of Sports is planning to organize similar games for players from merged districts in the second week of December, followed by the Under-21 games for female players.