Lahore top Pak-China Friendship Games with 31 gold medals

LAHORE - The Pak-China Friendship Games concluded with a colourful closing ceremony in Lahore, with Lahore Division emerging as the overall champion after securing 31 gold medals. Faisalabad finished second with 11 gold medals, while Rawalpindi claimed third position with five gold medals. Punjab Minister for Sports Malik Faisal Ayub Khokhar was the chief guest at the closing ceremony and distributed Rs55 million in prize money among the winning teams.

Around 2,000 athletes from across the country participated in the games, which provided young players with an opportunity to showcase their talent and competitive skills. Athletes from Punjab’s divisions as well as Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Sindh, Islamabad, Azad Jammu and Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan took part in various competitions. Speaking at the ceremony, Khokhar said all winning athletes would be awarded scholarships on behalf of Punjab CM Maryam Nawaz. He said the Pak-China Friendship Games had gained international attention, with articles about the event also appearing in Indian media.He added that the Punjab govt was taking comprehensive measures to promote football following an agreement between CM Maryam Nawaz and the Spanish ambassador to strengthen cooperation in the sport. He also said the forthcoming CM Punjab Youth Games would involve around 10 million athletes, describing it as a major provincial sporting initiative. Sports Secretary Punjab Fazal-ur-Rehman said Pakistan and China should further expand cooperation in youth affairs and sports. He revealed that he had proposed sending Chinese expert coaches to Pakistan to train local coaches and players, while promising to send promising Pakistani athletes to China for advanced training and grooming. Director General Sports Punjab Muhammad Tariq Qureshi said around 70,000 athletes participated in trials before the final selection of 2,000 competitors. He said the department was following the Chinese model of giving equal importance to education and sports and was promoting athlete development through CM Punjab Academies and the Punjab Sports Endowment Fund. The Chinese Tai Chi competitions and demonstrations were among the major highlights. Punjab, Balochistan and Islamabad secured the top three positions respectively.Lahore also dominated several disciplines, winning both boys’ and girls’ basketball and gymnastics titles, besides football, boys’ tennis and boys’ weightlifting. Faisalabad won both volleyball titles, while Rawalpindi secured boys’ badminton and wushu crowns. Sargodha won girls’ badminton, while Lahore took the girls’ athletics and table tennis titles.Boys competed in 11 disciplines and girls in eight, making the games a significant platform for emerging athletes.