The 34th National Games begin in Quetta today. Earlier, the torch relay ceremony of the National Games was held at the Pakistan Sports Complex Islamabad.
The National Games is being staged in Balochistan after 19 years. More than 6,000 athletes would feature in 32 categories in the Games.
The Balochistan Sports Department is making history by organizing the 34th National Games in collaboration with the Pakistan Olympic Association (POA). According to Director General Sports Dara Baloch, the preparations for the event in Quetta have reached their final stages. He also requested that officials from all sports-related associations cooperate fully with the Sports Department to make the National Games a success.
A meeting was held where the heads of sports unions, coaches and athlete representatives, and sports department officials discussed the trials, training camps, and ways to make the National Games of Balochistan a success. The officials asked for sports equipment for the training camp, and the Director General of Sports assured them that the equipment would be provided soon to the players and coaches.
The association officials expressed their commitment to working together with the sports department to make the National Games a success. It is expected that more than 3,000 athletes will compete in the nine-day Games starting on May 15, 2023, making it the first in recent times to be held in Quetta.
The Balochistan Chief Minister, Mir Abdul Qaddus Bazanjo, will serve as the patron-in-chief of the Games’ Management Committee, with Lt Gen (r) Arif Hasan (President POA) and Balochistan’s Minister for Sports Abdul Khaliquz Hazara as patrons of the committee. Balochistan Chief Secretary Abdul Aziz Uqaili will chair the committee, while Senior Vice President Pakistan Olympic Association Syed Aqil Shah will serve as the advisor on Games affairs.
