Disciplines for 34th National Games announced

KARACHI: The 34th National Games will be contested in 31 sports disciplines, it was revealed on Wednesday. The Games will be held in Quetta from May 15 to 23.

The disciplines are archery (men, women), athletics (men, women), badminton (men, women), baseball (men), basketball (men, women), bodybuilding (men), boxing (men, women), cycling (men, women), football (men, women), golf (men, women), gymnastics (men), handball (men, women), hockey (men, women), judo (men, women), kabaddi (men), karate (men, women), rugby (men, women), rowing (men, women), sailing (men, women), shooting (men, women), squash (men, women), softball (women), swimming (men, women), table tennis (men, women), taekwondo (men, women), tennis (men, women), volleyball (men, women), weightlifting (men, women), wrestling (men), wushu (men, women) and fencing (men, women; its medals shall not be counted for the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy).

A men’s exhibition match in tug of war will also be held during the biennial event. One exhibition women cricket match will be conducted besides exhibition shows in men and women futsal.

This is the first time that a women cricket match will be conducted during the Games. The Pakistan Olympic Association (POA) said that the events of individual sports disciplines are being circulated separately.

The provincial Olympic associations, Islamabad Olympic Association, services, departments and federations concerned have been requested to take appropriate action for preparation, participation and conduct of the Games in a befitting manner. A senior POA official told 'The News' that a security delegation of the POA would soon visit Quetta and hold meetings with the top civil and military leadership of Balochistan.

The official said that the POA also plans to convene a meeting of federations to discuss various matters of the Games. The official said if federations don’t object then there is the possibility to conduct competitions in some disciplines, especially those whose competitions will be conducted outside Balochistan, before the proper opening of Games.

The official said that swimming competitions will be held in Faisalabad, rowing slots will be conducted in Islamabad and every effort will be made to hold sailing completion in Gwadar.

The official clarified that in fencing medals would be awarded to the athletes but these would not be counted for the Quaid-e-Azam Trophy as some major teams are yet to form their teams.

The other day Balochistan government sanctioned additional funds for the Games which had originally been allotted to the province in 2012 but due to various reasons it could not organise them in time. Consequently, the 33rd edition was shifted to Peshawar. However, Balochistan was told that it could hold the Games whenever it got ready.

Recently a venue committee of the POA visited Quetta and was satisfied with the facilities which Balochistan has developed for organising the Games.

The organisers also are busy managing equipment for the Games which would help boost the soft image of the province which has faced huge problems on various fronts during the last few years.

The competitions will be conducted by the relevant federations along with the associations in Balochistan. A POA official said if court stay is vacated then POA will hold the elections of the Balochistan Olympic Association (BOA) and its president and secretary will be inducted in the organising committee of the Games.