Rawalpindi upset Lahore in Inter-Division Snooker

LAHORE: Rawalpindi Division stunned Lahore 2-0 and Sargodha 2-1 on the opening day of Punjab Inter-Division (Open) Snooker Championship at Nishtar Park Sports Complex Gymnasium Hall on Monday.

Earlier, Director General Sports Punjab Nadeem Sarwar inaugurated Punjab Inter-Division (Open) Snooker Championship by playing a shot in the presence of dozens of snookers players.

Sports Department Punjab is organising the 2-day Punjab Inter-Division (Open) Snooker Championship with the collaboration of Punjab Snooker Association. The snooker teams from all nine divisions of Punjab province are taking part in the championship.

Pakistan’s two international snooker stars - Hamza Akbar and Naseem Akhtar were also present at the opening ceremony.Rawalpindi Division players exhibited outstanding performance in the knock-out stage competitions.

They dominated the contests against both Lahore and Sargodha right from the beginning and cruised to next round quite comfortably.Multan Division players also showed excellent form against Gujranwala Division and qualified for the next round with a 2-0 triumph. DG Khan defeated Bahawalpur and Faisalabad toppled Sahiwal in other matches of the championship.

While talking to media, DG Sports Punjab Nadeem Sarwar said snooker is one of the most popular sports in the world. “Snooker is one of the five sports that we have short-listed keeping in view their great medal-winning prospects in international competitions like Asian and SAF Games etc,” he added.

Answering a question, Sarwar said Sports Board Punjab is organsing regular sports events despite severe summer weather conditions. “We organized All-Punjab Age Group Swimming Championship in Gujrat and kabaddi event in Gujranwala in recent days. A 2-day archery championship is also going to be staged in Murree later this month,” he explained.

Replying another query, Sarwar said the performance all the participating players will be monitored minutely during the championship. “The data of top performers will be preserved. We will also invite international coaches for the top class training of prominent players”.

“Sports Board Punjab has chalked out a comprehensive programme for the promotion of sports in the province. We are giving equal importance to all sports disciplines”.