13th Sindh Games 2010 inaugurated with great fanfare

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

The 13th edition of Sindh Games, promoting the theme of tolerance and carrying the slogan ‘sports spread happiness’ was inaugurated in a colourful ceremony at the PSB Coaching Centre in Karachi on June 14.

Sindh Home Minister, Zulfiqar Mirza, declared the Games open on a pleasant and overcast evening in the presence of Sindh Sports Minister, Dr.Muhammad Ali Shah, who is also the President of the Sindh Olympic Association (SOA), and Shoaib Ahmed Siddiqui, Secretary Sports & Youth Affairs to the Government of Sindh.

South Asia’s fastest woman, Nasim Hameed, having made the country proud earlier this year, had the honour of lighting the torch of the Sindh Games being held in her hometown, Karachi, for only the third time in 24 years. Veteran athletes Mohammad Talib and Syed Zahid Ali Rizvi also ran with the torch.

The record number of participating male and female athletes and officials, estimated to be over two thousand, attired in different coloured tracksuits participated in the march past. The promising local sprinter Almas Ibrahim, who clinched as many as eight gold medals in the last Sindh Games in Larkana, took the oath on behalf of the athletes.

Karachi Heroes, Hyderabad Champions, Larkano Tigers, Sukker Riders and Mirpurkhas Superstars are the five regions, comprising of all 21 districts of the province, participating in the three-day extravaganza.

The Olympics disciplines being contested during the Games are athletics, basketball, boxing, badminton, cycling, football, gymnastics, handball, hockey, judo, karate, rowing, swimming, softball, table tennis, taekwondo, tennis, weightlifting, volleyball, wrestling and wushu while the non-Olympic sports are kabbadi, bodybuilding, bridge, chess, netball, softball, throwball, kodi kodi, malakharo, muaythai, wanjh watti and shootingball.

The male athletes are in action in 36 disciplines while the women folks are trying their luck in 17 disciplines. As many as 15 venues across the city are being used to stage the Games with the majority of the events being organized at the PSB Coaching Centre, NED University, Karachi University, Sindh Sports Complex Nazimabad and City Sports Complex, Kashmir Road.

The outstation participants, to be paid Rs.250 as the daily allowance for five days, have been provided accommodation in the various hotels besides the hostel of the Karachi University. Originally it had been planned to lodge all the athletes in different educational institutions but there was a last minute move to make arrangements at hotels.


Due to a combination of factors not all the athletes could be provided the track suits before the start of the Games but the organizers didn’t deem it proper to delay any of the events allowing the participants to compete in any other sporting dress.

All the contingent heads, however, were considerate and they expressed satisfaction with the overall arrangements made for the Games and they complimented the provincial government for having met the challenge against the heaviest of odds.

The quintet of Mushtaq Ahmed (Karachi), Rahat Ali Shah (Hyderabad), Iqbal Hussain Makani (Larkana), Abdul Hamid Rajput (Sukkur) and Iqbal Hussain (Mirpurkhas) confirmed having received the daily allowance for their respective contingents.

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Glory for Argentina ahead of big battle

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

The much awaited FIFA World Cup Football 2010 kicked off with great fanfare in Johannesburg, South Africa, on June 11 but one of the side events that created waves was the Miss World Cup 2010 Pageant held in Rust, Germany, on June 1.

The Miss World Cup Pageant featured 32 contestants representing each of the participating team in the World Cup in South Africa.

The 17-year old Jennifer Scherman of Argentina won the contest. In second place was Miss Greece, Katerina Giannoglu and she was followed by Miss Netherlands Avalon-Chanel Weijzig.

Jennifer Scherman not only walked away with US$ 6000 and an all-paid trip to Egypt but she brought smiles on the faces of the people of Argentina ahead of the mega event in the field of play. It was considered a perfect gift to the legendary Diego Maradona in particular.

Her triumph must have thrilled her football squad in South Africa who took the pleasure in already winning a World Cup trophy even before the actual kick-off.

A similar event was held in same city on the eve of the FIFA World Cup Football 2006, featuring the representatives for all 32 countries in which Togo’s Edwige Madze Badakcu having run away with the crown.

I think there’s more to see than read about such an event therefore let me conclude this write-up without more narration.

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Sri Lanka favourites to lift trophy

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

Of the four participants in the 10th Asia Cup Cricket Tournament 2010, starting in the city of Dambulla on June 15, hosts Sri Lanka appear to be the most formidable outfit to run away with the trophy nine days later.

Sri Lanka and India currently share the record of having won the Asia Cup on the highest number of occasions. Both of them have annexed the title four times each with Pakistan emerging triumphant only one time in nine editions of the continental tourney launched way back in 1984.

History may not be on Pakistan’s side as far as the Asia Cup is concerned but they remain the team to beat in every tournament. Their tendency of bouncing back from the dead keeps every opponent on its toes because they have had this ability of causing huge upsets against the run of play.

Although India appear a stronger outfit than Pakistan at the moment there’s every possibility of the latter advancing to the final where they should meet Sri Lanka unless and until something dramatic happens during the one week of action.

It can’t be said with conviction whether Pakistan would be benefiting by the comeback of the controversial duo of Shoaib Malik and Shoaib Akhtar because neither of the two most gifted of cricketers have been particularly famous for raising the team spirit.

On the contrary they had been accused of either flouting team rules or creating rifts within the team. It remains to be seen if they would take the field with a positive frame of mind to erase the bitter memories of the past.

The return of the two Shoaibs provides Pakistan the much needed experience. It’s an area that should comfort skipper Shahid Khan Afridi, who had a raw outfit at his disposal in the ICC World Twenty20 a few weeks ago.

With the seasoned campaigners like Mohammad Asif, Kamran Akmal and Abdul Razzaq to complement the young guns like Mohammad Aamer, Umar Akmal and Umar Amin, the Pakistan line-up can prove the experts wrong once more by claiming the Asia Cup.

The enigmatic Indians will have a point to prove after the debacle in the recently concluded three-nation ODI series in Zimbabwe where they could not even enter the final.

I don’t know how the Indian cricket authorities look at it but the dismal performance of their youngsters in Zimbabwe should serve as a wake-up call and they need to revisit their strategy to remain a force to be reckoned with in international arena.

Hosts Sri Lanka have no such worries. They clinched the three-nation tourney in Zimbabwe despite having rested some of their key players. Now they have reinforced their squad with the experienced hands to become the most potent side entering the tournament.

Sri Lanka, who had whipped India in the final of the last Asia Cup at National Stadium, Karachi, in July 2008, should walk away with the title once more if they play to their potential.

Bangladesh, I am afraid, have little chance of doing anything more than causing an odd upset although their skipper Shakib-ul-Hasan feels that his team is more suited to 50-overs game that Tests or T20 versions.

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HBL School Coaching Project concludes

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

The chairman of the Pakistan Veterans Cricket Association (PVCA), Fawad Ijaz Khan, has underlined the importance of coaching at the grassroots level in cricket while acknowledging the support of Habib Bank Limited (HBL) for in this particular field.

Speaking at the certificate distribution ceremony of the HBL School Boys Cricket Coaching Project, the PVCA Chairman also made a special mention of Alamgir Ahmed in the promotion of school level cricket.

Alamgir, it may be recalled, was recently awarded ICC centenary medal in recognition of his services to the promotion of the game. He has remained associated with the PVCA for quite sometime, having organized numerous events for the veterans as well as the teenaged students.

Fawad Ijaz, the motivating force behind the formation and subsequent professional running of the PVCA, paid glowing tributes to his team for having delivered against the heaviest of odds.

“Despite the reservations of some of the members, we decided to embark upon on this project which has finally come to a successful end. Our association has been actively playing its role in the sphere the corporate social responsibility,” the PVCA Chairman observed.

Former Pakistan fast bowler and the country's most qualified coach, Jalaluddin, in his speech pointed out that long-term planning was required to groom the talent that could strengthen cricket at the grassroots level.

Jalaluddin’s Customs Cricket Academy (CCA) had joined hands with the PVCA in the year-long HBL School Boys Coaching Project that concluded with the presentation ceremony at the Karachi Gymkhana on June 10.

“We need to improve our coaching system at the lower level to prepare better brand of cricketers. Better quality cricketers for the future could not be guaranteed without launching such kind of long-term coaching programme,” he reckoned.

He lauded the contribution of Pakistan Veteran Cricket Association (PVCA) in selecting the 21 boys from their Inter-Schools competition last year for getting them enrolled for the coaching programme.

Jalaluddin, who holds the record of registering the first-ever hat-trick in One-day Internationals, believed that it was very important to provide the youngsters with the coaching facilities from the moment they take to the game.

“Coaching helps at every stage of one’s career but proper training and guidance at the beginning provides the athlete the best possible chance to succeed. Therefore we should mobilize our resources to groom the talented youngsters for which we need to patronize schools cricket in particular,” he added.

Those who attended the year-long training and got certificates included Saifullah Bangash, Ali Ahmed, Khurram Shahzad, M.Zarnab, Asad Ali, Faisal Tahir, Umair Arif, Faraz Ali, Jawad Alam, Farhan Anwar, Daniyal Mansoor, Omer Arshad, Hasnain Raza, Ahsan Mirza, Masood Zahoor, Junaid Ilyas, Fawad Khan, Faraz Baig. Jibran Ahmed, Sheraz Ali and Faraz Ahmed

Director PVCA and ex-President Karachi Gymkhana, Iqbal Umer, KCCA President, Syed Sirajul Islam Bukhari, and PVCA Secretary, Brig (Rtd) Salahuddin. also spoke on the occasion.

The ceremony was also attended by HBL SEVP Shahid Fakhuruddin, Sports Head, Abdul Raqueeb, former Test cricketers Sadiq Muhammad, Liaquat Ali, ex-Test umpire Mahbboob Shah, former Cricket Secretary, Karachi Gymkhana, Masroor Mirza, and other officials.

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Sindh Government completes hat-trick with hockey course launch

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

Hockey has been at its lowest ebb in the country following the debacle in the World Cup earlier this year in which Pakistan finished last among the 12 participants. Since then a campaign has been orchestrated by the former hockey greats to oust the officials of the federation but no result has come so far.

There is a little difference between hockey and cricket as far as running their apex bodies in the country is concerned. While cricket, for the last year and a half, has been governed solely by Ijaz Butt there are two persons, not one, calling the shots on the hockey front during the same period.

Asif Bajwa, Secretary of the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF), has been more in the spotlight for the wrong reasons because he wears far too many caps with the support and protection of his highly influential boss, Qasim Zia.

With the top PHF officials preoccupied in finding ways and means to counter the tirade against them in order to stay afloat, the vacuum has been filled by the Sports and Youth Affairs department of the Government of Sindh having recently launched a five-month long hockey course as part of the Benazir Bhutto Shaheed Youth Development Programme (BBSYDP). The opening ceremony of the course was held at the Hockey Club of Pakistan Stadium in Karachi on June 10.

Quite remarkably the proactive department, under the dynamic leadership of Shoaib Ahmed Siddiqui, Secretary Sports and Youth Affairs to the Government of Sindh, has completed a hat-trick with the launch of the hockey course.

The provincial government, as part of the BBSYDP, has now initiated coaching courses in three games. Before turning to hockey they had started the courses for the cricket and football coaches.

It’s quite a monumental effort on part of the department to have undertaken three programmes simultaneously. All these three courses for the coaches have been launched in a matter of weeks. In fact hockey and football courses began on successive days.

They have made the right decision by engaging the respective controlling bodies of the game because it seemed the best way out to get the accredited coaches besides the top venue for this purpose.

One has to agree with Shoaib Siddiqui that coaching played a vital role in preparing and developing the skills of the athletes and the standard of the game can not be strengthened at the grassroots level without the involvement of the coaches.

The Sindh Chief Minister, Syed Qaim Ali Shah, must feel satisfied over the fact that the sum of Rs 13 million he allocated for the project is being utilized in the manner it was desired and the coaching courses being organized in as many as three games will indeed help in sports promotion.

The participants in all the three courses are being paid a monthly stipend of Rs.6,000 with the outstation trainees getting a further Rs 3,000. Besides getting this amount they are also gaining the experience that would come handy in their career.

The Deputy Secretary Youth Affairs to Government of Sindh and Project Director, Saleem Ahmed Siddiqui, deserves to be complimented for having worked tirelessly to ensure the successful launch of all the three training courses.

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Sindh Government launch five-month football course

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

Football remains one of the most popular sports of Pakistan despite the lack of infrastructure and poor administration. The passion for the game has not died down and the following, contrary to the popular belief, is understood to be on the rise with the new generation into it.

It’s very heartening to find the Sports and Youth Affairs department of the Government of Sindh having taken the initiative to launch a five-month long football course under the banner of Benazir Bhutto Shaheed Youth Development Programme (BBSYDP). The course was launched at the PSB Coaching Centre in Karachi on June 9.

Speaking at the inauguration ceremony, Shoaib Ahmed Siddiqui, Secretary Sports and Youth Affairs to the Government of Sindh, observed that the provincial government was trying their best to promote sports in the nook and corners of Sindh.

He pointed out that coaching played a vital role in preparing and developing the skills of the athletes and the standard of the game can not be strengthened at the grassroots level without the involvement of the coaches.

He revealed that the Sindh Chief Minister, Syed Qaim Ali Shah, has allocated Rs 13 million for this project under which the coaching courses are being organized in as many as three games.

The provincial government, as part of the Benazir Bhutto Shaheed Youth Development Programme (BBSYDP), will be organizing coaching course hockey after having started the courses for the cricket and football coaches.

“Just as we have organized the training course for the cricket coaches with the support of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) the football and hockey coaching courses are being held with the collaboration of the Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) and the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) respectively,” Shoaib Siddiqui said.

“A monthly stipend of Rs.6,000 is being given to the participants of the course belonging to Karachi while the outstation participants are paid Rs.9,000 per month,” he added.

“Here’s an opportunity for the coaches to fine tune their skills and become even better professionals to serve the cause of the game,” Shoaib Siddiqui reckoned.

Those attending the football course are Pervez Ahmed (Larkana), Ali Haider Jamali, Imdad Ali (Dadu), Shahid Ali Baloch, Imran Ali, Sheharyar (Mirpurkhas), Abdul Hafeez (Ghotki), Shah Khalid, Hafiz Asad Hussain, Syed Bukhtiar Ali Rizvi (Hyderabad), Haseeb Hasan, Muhammad Arsalan Sharif, Yasir Arafat, Noor Ali, Ali Ahmed and Azeem Sharif (Karachi).

The women participants attending the football course are Zehra Abbas, Afshan Fatima, Nuzhat Zehra and Ambreen Hameed, all of them hailing from Karachi.

The PFF Director, Youth and Grassroots Management, Siddique Shaikh, is supervising the course. He firmly believed that the five-month course will hugely benefit the participants who are getting the opportunity of learning about the basics of coaching besides learning the latest techniques of imparting training to the athletes.

The opening ceremony was also attended by Deputy Secretary Youth Affairs to Government of Sindh and Project Director, Saleem Ahmed Siddiqui, PSB Director Coaching Centre, Zulfiqar Abro, Event Coordinator Asif Azeem and ADO Mushtaq Ahmed

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Pakistan may not be able to hire foreign snooker coach immediately

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

The plans of the Pakistan Billiards & Snooker Federation (PBSA) to acquire the services of a foreign coach could be in jeopardy if the allocation for sports in the federal budget for the financial year 2010-11 was not revised.

Alamgir Anwar Shaikh, President, PBSA, has not minced words in describing the proposed cut in the budget as catastrophic for sports in the country.

“Obviously each and every federation affiliated to the Ministry of Sports will be affected and ours would be no exception. The curtailment of funds will spell disaster for sports in Pakistan and many of the plans in pipeline would be severely affected,” he noted.

“We had successfully negotiated a deal with Sanjay Sawant of India to coach our cueists after the Federal Ministry of Sports had agreed in principle to take care of the expenses. But in the prevailing scenario the chances of the Ministry meeting the commitment are very remote indeed,” Alamgir Shaikh reckoned.

“We had approached Sawant only after been given this understanding by the Ministry. We held negotiations with him during the recently concluded Asian Snooker Championship in Thailand. Sawant had agreed to coach our cueists according to the worked out timetable,” the PBSA President, who was to ink the deal upon the release of funds for this specific purpose by the Federal Sports Ministry, added.

The PBSA had planned to hire Sawant for a three-month coaching programme and he was to train the Pakistani cueists in three phases for the major international events to be held later this year and early next year.

Sawant was due to visit Pakistan, had the deal been signed, for the first time before the Asian Games before returning to conduct coaching sessions for the preparation of World Snooker Championship to be held in December.

Sawant’s proposed coaching stint was also to train the local cueists for the 1st Asian 6-Red Championship, the 12th Asian U-21 Snooker Championship and the 27th Asian Snooker Championship to be held early next year.

The PBSA had started eyeing a foreign coach to improve the skills of the local cueists in general and the youngsters in particular who were unable to come up with consistent performance at the top level.

With Mohammad Yousuf, the only Pakistani to have been crowned at the international and continental level, past his prime and Saleh Mohammad, who did possess the material to bring home a major title, having moved to neighbouring Afghanistan the PBSA has been left with no option but to groom the young guns to become world beaters.

To make matters worse the experienced hands like Khurram Hussain Agha and Naveen Kumar Perwani, who dominated the domestic circuit for quite a while, could not maintain the consistency to earn the much needed title for the country.

Mohammad Sajjad has emerged as the new shining light but he too fell at the last hurdle in the recently held Asian Snooker Championship in Thailand. Then there are promising youngsters like Asjad Iqbal and Mohammad Asif who also have the potential to make their presence felt. The coaching stints, as planned by the PBSA, could fast track the rise of these talented young cueists.

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Yuvraj gets wake-up call

By Syed Khalid Mahmood

The manner in which Yuvraj Singh was moving around in the ICC Twenty20 in the West Indies last month there should not be any debate about his exclusion from the Indian squad for the upcoming Asia Cup.

He didn’t appear fit mentally or physically during the course of the tournament and he was a mere shadow of his own former self. Gone was the spark in his fielding and also missing was his usual aggression with the bat. The man who used to be an asset for the side with his all-round versatility had become a liability.

Yuvraj, a master blaster in his own right, has been short of runs from his own high standards for the past many months. He has been laid low by fitness problems and the form has also deserted him in the limited appearances that he has been able to make in this the most turbulent phase of his career yet.

Known and feared for taking the attack to the opposition he used to be an automatic choice in the star-studded Indian batting line-up in the limited overs matches for the past one decade.

The Indian selection panel, led by the enterprising former opener Krishnamachari Srikkanth, appears to have made the right decision of having ignored him for the Asia Cup because Yuvraj didn’t deserve to make the cut in his present form and there was no point in picking him on mere reputation.

I think the Indian selectors have learnt their lessons quickly. They have realized sooner than later that drafting the left-hander in the ICC Twenty20 side was a blunder and that he should be sidelined at the moment.

Almost every batsman has had to endure a lean patch in a long career. Yuvraj now has to work hard to regain form and fitness to stage a comeback because the young guns like Suresh Raina, Virat Kohli and Rohit Sharma are standing right there to grab his place.

The 28-year-old Yuvraj does have the skill and time at his disposal to bounce back but the road to recovery may not be as easy as it looks like. He will be needed to prove his fitness and get runs at the domestic level before resuming international career.

He had an ordinary IPL earlier this year and he was even removed from captaincy of the Kings XI Punjab whom he had led pretty well in the earlier two editions of the tournament. There were just a few flashes of brilliance and his side sorely missed his aggression in the middle.

He’s reported to be having a dodgy shoulder and knee for quite sometime. In fact his knee has needed surgery which he has been putting off since 2006.

It goes to his credit that he has still played quite a few match-winning knocks for India despite being handicapped by injuries but they look like taking its toll with so much of cricket around. Consistency is what he lacked, however, and he has finally been given a wake-up call.

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