DG SBP appreciates female hockey talent

LAHORE (APP): Director General sports Boar Punjab (SBP) Adnan Arshad Aulakh, while appreciating the talent of Punjab’s female hockey players, said that Punjab has plenty of hockey potential which is an encouraging sign for future of hockey in Pakistan.
He said this here on Monday after witnessing the third and final day trials of Punjab’s divisional teams for their participation in First Chief Minister Punjab 5-a-Side National Women Hockey Championship scheduled to start from September 7 at National Hockey Stadium.
SBP Director Sports Hafeez Bhatti, Deputy Director Chand Perveen, Assistant Director Raees ur Rehman and SBP Security In-charge Col (retd) Shabbir, Secretary Punjab Hockey Association Asif Naz Khokhar, Divisional Sports Officers Rana Nadeem Anjum (Multan), Ata-ur-Rehman (DG Khan) and members of SBP selection committee were also present on the occasion.
On the final day, the SBP selection committee conducted the trials of players of four divisions – Multan, Bahawalpur, DG Khan and Rawalpindi. As many as 13 players from Multan, 10 from DG Khan and five from Bahawalpur appeared in the trials.
After the trials, the training camp of 25 selected players of Punjab’s two teams will commence tomorrow, Tuesday.
Speaking on the occasion , Adnan Arshad Aulakh said that Sports board Punjab is making solid efforts for the promotion of hockey among the young generation of the province. ” It is very important hockey event as leading departmental and provincial teams will be participating in it and it will help in unearthing new hockey talent “, he added.
Director General Sports Punjab said recently we organized Quaid-e-Azam and Independence Day Hockey events. “We have found several talented male and female players through these championships. We are also imparting further training to these budding players so that they can perform satisfactorily in future national and international hockey competitions”.
He further said SBP is focusing on the promotion of all games. ” SBP will organize competitions of Fastest Man and Woman of Punjab, javelin throw and other athletics competitions in near future besides holding a championship of one game every month,” he added.
It may be mentioned here that as many as 12 under-25 teams will participate in the tournament. Punjab, Sindh and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa will field two teams each in the tournament while Balochistan, Islamabad, Army, HEC, Wapda and Railways will send one team each.