LAHORE: Punjab is set to field a 461-member contingent in the 34th National Games scheduled to be held in Quetta from May 22-30.
“We will field a 461-member contingent in the National Games in 29 disciplines,” Punjab Olympic Association’s Secretary General Khwaja Idrees told ‘The News’ on Friday.
As some events will be held before the opening ceremony to be conducted on May 22 at the Ayub Stadium Quetta, Punjab’s contingent will also proceed accordingly.
“As you know some events will begin early and we will proceed to Quetta in around ten different groups. On May 9 our hockey team will leave for Quetta, on May 10 three other teams will go and this process will continue as per the schedule which has been shared with us by the organisers and Pakistan Olympic Association,” Idrees said.
“Our main 162-member group will proceed on May 21 which will also attend the opening ceremony,” the official was quick to add.
Idrees said that the provincial government has not yet released funds to the Punjab Olympic Association.
“We had requested for Rs30 million as we had planned to hold three-week camps as it could put us in a strong position. That is not possible now. Hardly one-week camp may be possible if the provincial government releases the funds,” he said.
“But despite the fact that funds have not yet been released we are working and have also placed orders for kits, track-suits, shoes and other required materials for the Games. Ideal preparation could not be made but we have made our top effort to prepare the teams for the event,” he added.
Sailing will be conducted at Karachi, rowing in Islamabad, swimming in Lahore and shooting in Jhelum. Initially, the organisers wanted to hold the sailing event at the scenic Gwadar but they dropped the idea due to various reasons and rather awarded the event to Karachi which is the hub of sailing competitions.
Idrees was confident that the athletes of Punjab will deliver in the Games which Quetta will host after 18 years. It last hosted the Games in 2004.
“You know Army and WAPDA are the two main stakeholders which will be fielding heavy contingents of 600-member each. They also have the resources and have prepared well. But I am confident that we will top the group of the provinces as we had also led that group in the 33rd National Games held in Peshawar in 2019,” Idrees said.
“We have enormous talent in a few disciplines. We have more potential in basketball, our women hockey team is strong and we have bright chances of claiming medals in kabaddi, wrestling and a few more individual sports,” he added.
It is pertinent to mention here that Quetta had been allotted the Games in 2012. However due to various reasons it could not hold the spectacle in time. The 33rd National Games, which Quetta had to host, were then shifted to Peshawar in 2019 and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa held that edition of the country’s premier event in a befitting way.
The Quetta National Games will give the federations a clear idea which players should be sent to China for the 19th Asian Games slated to be held in Hangzhou from September 23 to October 8.
Alam Zeb Safi Alam Zeb Safi is a senior reporter for The News