35 countries will participate in the Punjab Youth Festival 2015

Lahore: Sports Board Punjab on Saturday night, showered cash prizes on all the top athletes and players of kabaddi, hockey, squash, blind and deaf cricket teams etc for their magnificent performances in Punjab Youth Festival (PYF), Pak-India Punjab Games, Guinness World Record and other international competitions in a colourful ceremony here at Al-Hamra Cultural Complex, Ferozepur Road.

Male and female students of different schools and colleges also presented aerobics and gymnastics demonstration. The participants were also entertained through peace, cultural, music shows and regional dances of all the four provinces.

National Men’s hockey team was awarded Rs 72 lakh, women Kabaddi team got 42 lakh, squash champion Amir Atlas Khan took Rs five lakh while a prize of Rs one lakh was handed over to Guinness World Record holder M Rashid. Men’s kabaddi team and Blind and deaf cricket teams were also given souvenirs and certificates on this occasion. Overall, several hundred winners and runners up athletes were also given cash awards, shields and merit certificates in the grand ceremony.

A boxing promotion agreement was also reached between SBP and World Boxing Council (WBC) on this occasion. According to agreement, WBC will arrange title events in Pakistan this year and will coordinate for provision of equipment and WBC ring for academy at Lahore. WBC will also arrange seminars for imparting training to officials, referees and judges to develop infrastructure of professional boxing in Pakistan.

WBC President Mauricio Sulaiman presented a WBC belt and certificate of WBC membership to Hamza Shahbaz and in return, Sulaiman and WBC Vice-President Alberto Guerra were given big boxing gloves and certificates.

Punjab Minister for Sports Rana Mashud Ahmad Khan announced that “Pakistani nation has proved that our youth could set any world record. As many as 1,600 international athletes from 35 countries will participate in forthcoming international competitions of the Punjab Youth Festival 2015,” he informed.

The high-profile ceremony was attended by several prominent personalities from all walks of life including sports, showbiz and politics. Star spin bowler Saeed Ajmal also attended the ceremony. WBC Vice-President Alberto Guerra, Juan Carlos Sanchez Pelayo and Lucuana Plano were also present on this occasion.

Member of National Assembly (MNA) Hamza Shahbaz Sharif, Punjab Minister for Sports Rana Mashhood Ahmed Khan and Director General Sports Punjab Usman Anwar distributed prizes among the top national athletes.