National Games delayed till at least November 20

KARACHI: The 33rd National Games will not be organised on its schedule of October 7-14 in Quetta, as not a single penny has been released by Balochistan government.

The Games will now be organised from November 20, ‘The News’ learnt on Friday. Sources connected to the National Games said that provincial sports minister was in Ashgabat with the contingent of Pakistan for Asian Indoor and Martial Arts Games.

The detailed schedule would be decided only after the minister returns, said the sources. The Baluchistan Olympic Association (BOA) also confirmed the National Games have been delayed, and that the final schedule of the games was yet to be decided.  

He said that Pakistan Olympic Association (POA) would decide the new schedule when the minister returned. Some sources said temperature in Quetta would be very low in the mid of November, so the Games might get delayed even further.

The Holy month of Muharram has also started because of which the preparation for the Games has been affected, the sources said. The National Games have been postponed several times. The last National Games were held in 2015.

POA has provisionally announced the list of events to be conducted during the Games.Men will compete in archery, athletics, badminton, baseball, basketball, boxing, bodybuilding, football, golf, gymnastics, handball, hockey, ju-jitsu, Kabaddi, karate, rowing, rugby, shooting, sailing, squash, swimming, table tennis, taekwondo, tennis, tug of war, volleyball, weightlifting, wrestling and wushu.

Women will feature in archery, athletics, badminton, baseball, basketball, golf, handball, hockey, ju-jitsu, karate, rowing, rugby, shooting, sailing, softball, squash, swimming, table tennis, taekwondo, tennis, volleyball, weightlifting, and wushu. The POA says judo and cycling events would be included if their federations withdrew court cases filed against it and complied with its constitution before the Games began.