Provincial level competitions of the Punjab Youth Festival opened on Sunday with the Rawalpindi women’s hockey team defeating Gujranwala.
Faisalabad defeated DG Khan and Multan division defeated Sargodha 4-0.
In the basketball event, Sahiwal defeated Sargodha with the narrow margin of one point.
Karate competitions were held at Nishtar Park Sports Complex.
In 55 kg category, Nauman of Lahore was victorious, Ali Akram from Multan stood second followed by Mateen Amjad of Bahawalpur.
The 65 kg category was won by Savail Fayyaz of Lahore Division, followed by Munir Gull of Sahiwal and Muhammad Ramzan of Gujranwala.
In the 75 kg category, Tanveer Ahmad from Gujranwala was the winner, Owais Taj of Lahore was the runner-up while Leuvison Ameen stood third.
In the women’s volleyball contest, Lahore beat Sahiwal 2-0.
Multan defeated Gujranwala 2-0 and Bahawalpur defeated DG Khan 2-0.
Rawalpindi defeated Bahawalpur in the baseball game by six runs.
In the 800-metres race, Seema Afzal of Lahore stood first, Farhat Batool of Sargodha was second and Nabeela Sharif of Multan was third.
In the 100-metres race, Sehrish Asghar of Lahore stood first, Ayesha Kiran of Sargodha was second and Iram Minhas of Faisalabad was third.
In the 400-metres race, Aneela Gulzar of Lahore stood first, Nabeela Sharif of Multan Division was second and Farhat Batool of Sargodha Division was third.
In the 200 metres race, Saima Munir of Lahore got the first position. Nabeela Sharif of Multan was second and Mussarat Shaheen of Sargodha was third.
In the long jump contest, Saima Shahzadi of Lahore earned the top honour. Ayesha Kiran of Sargodha was the runner-up and Nabeela Sharif of Multan was third.
In the javelin throw, Saadia Khalil of Lahore was first. Sonia Khalid of Gujranwala was second and Noreen Hafeez of Bahawalpur was third.
Hundreds of fans of art and craft, engineering and IT, history, and handicrafts visited PYF exhibition at the Expo centre on Sunday.
The Indian team, which arrived on Saturday, visited the Expo Center.
Talking to newsmen on the occasion, Minister for Sports Rana Mashhood said he was glad to see the interest of the public and private sectors towards the PYF.
The organisers had arranged several other stalls including those featuring Extreme Coding (Exhibition Hall 2), Aero Mania (outside Span 1 Lawns), Robo Wars (Exhibition Hall 4), Robo Navigation (Exhibition Hall 4).
Apart from different stalls, various competitions of debate, naat khani, qirat, essay writing and painting were also held under the auspices of Elementary School Education Department at Expo Center.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 3rd, 2014.