And eventually it was decided the other day that the 34th National Games will be held from May 22-30 in Quetta. The earlier dates were May 15-23. The games have been delayed for a week by the Pakistan Olympic Association (POA) on the request of the Balochistan government.

The decision to delay the games was taken keeping in view the expected polls in Punjab and some other matters. But now Quetta is ready for the country’s major extravaganza after almost two decades. Quetta last hosted the games in 2004.

Quetta had been allotted the 33rd National Games in 2012 but it took too much time before it finally settled itself to go for the 34th edition. The 33rd edition had been shifted to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Peshawar hosted them near the end of 2019, a few days before Pakistan contingent’s departure for the South Asian Games held in Nepal.

Quetta faced many hardships because of terror acts in the past but now it looks rather peaceful and it is an ideal time for Balochistan to utilise the games for spreading the message of peace and to tell the world that the province is safe.

Top-notch security arrangements have been planned for holding the games which will be contested in 32 sports disciplines at the well-facilitated Ayub Sports Complex and a few other venues.

Due to lack of infrastructure, swimming contests will be held in Lahore, rowing in Islamabad and shooting in Jhelum. Sailing is highly expected to be conducted at the scenic Gwadar city.

The venues have almost been made ready with major construction work already completed. The renovation is in progress and in a few days the whole facilities will be ready for the major showpiece.

A few days ago a POA delegation visited Quetta and held marathon meetings with the Balochistan civil and military leadership. The security experts in the POA delegation were highly satisfied with the plans which have been made for giving security to the athletes.

The Ayub Sports Complex is a walled facility, having the capacity to host competitions in most of the disciplines and its entry and exit points will be completely manned by security forces.

The security forces will also be deployed at the most important points of the city which is not that big and it is hoped that everything will occur smoothly.

Corps Commander Quetta is fully backing the event and has also promised full support to the organisers.

Quetta came into limelight before the PSL 8 when an exhibition cricket match was organised at the Bugti Stadium between Peshawar Zalmi and Quetta Gladiators. Corps Commander Quetta played a key role in that project. And we hope that Quetta will face no issue in handling the security and other matters.

Hosting such Games is very important as it helps a province to develop its infrastructure which is then used for many years to come.

Balochistan has spent a decent amount on preparation and I am confident that the province will execute its plans well to hold the Games in the most befitting way.

The organisers have opted to hold events of team sports, except volleyball, before the opening ceremony in order to overcome logistics and accommodation issues. The best thing is that the distance between venues and hotels is also not that big.

On May 1 the federations’ top officials will visit Quetta to inspect the venues. The strength of the technical officials will also be finalized then.

The Games are very important in the sense that they will help the federations to finalise their squads for the Asian Games.

And it’s also a good opportunity for the provincial athletes to impress and give tough time to the departmental players who enjoy good facilities.

Those provincial athletes who impress at this stage may be picked by the departments as is the practice. So these games have multiple advantages and we all should stand up to make this spectacle a huge success.

Tokyo-based Olympian judoka Shah Hussain and Canada-based karateka Saadi Abbas, the two highly experienced fighters, are also set to represent their departments in the biennial spectacle.

Shah Hussain often used to ask me when National Games would be held. He is going to represent the Army in the event.

It is not yet known whether the country’s premier javelin thrower Arshad Nadeem will feature in the games. The Asian Games bronze medallist and Commonwealth Games and Islamic Games gold medallist is passing through rehab following his elbow surgery in London last December. The other day Arshad told me that if he is fit then he will definitely feature in the National Games.

The country’s premier wrestler Mohammad Inam is not likely to feature in the event as he is set to attend a coaching course in Budapest, Hungary.

After Eid-ul-Fitr all the participating units will expedite their preparations as they will have one month at their disposal.

The departmental teams, especially Army and WAPDA, are also expected to set up camps in Quetta a week before the Games in order to adjust to the conditions. The weather in Quetta will be not that hot in those days as compared to the rest of the country because of its high altitude.

Hope the things go in the right direction.

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