Provincial-level theatre performance competitions at the Punjab Youth Festival began on Thursday at the Open Air Theatre of Bagh-e-Jinnah.
A play titled Bol, Mat Bol (Speak, do not speak) was presented on Wednesday night under the aegis of Rawalpindi Arts Council. The play, written and directed by Suleman Sunny, highlighted several social issues. Senior artists Masood Akhtar and Iqbal Khalid were the judges at the event.
The actors included Lubna Shahzadi, Kashif Rana, Ameen Shahzada, Babar Abbas and Reeha. The play was presented by a team led by Waqar Ahmed, the resident director of Rawalpindi Arts Council.
Thursday also marked the last day of inter-divisional badminton, kabaddi, cricket, boxing and karate competitions at the Punjab Youth Festival.
Cricket
The Lahore division women’s team won the inter-division cricket title at the Kinnaird College for Women ground. Playing first, the Lahore team defeated Gujranwala by 65 runs with a loss of eight wickets. The Lahore division team made 94 runs in the stipulated overs.
Sargodha University were victorious in the men’s university-level cricket event thrashing University of Central Punjab. At college-level, Punjab College of Commerce won the title by outplaying the Post Graduate College Multan.
Badminton
The open badminton trophy went to Gujranwala who defeated Rawalpindi by a margin of 2-1 sets. Punjab University emerged victorious in the universities badminton contest. Its students defeated Sargodha University by 2-0 in the title clash.
Boxing
Lahori pugilists won the Punjab Youth Festival inter-divisional boxing championship with 45 points at the Civil Lines College. Boxing teams from nine divisions took part in three weight categories 55, 65 and 75 plus. Zulqarnain, Shahzaib and Hamza Fiaz, boxers from Lahore, won gold medals in the three weight categories. Fiaz, the youngest champion, was also adjudged the best player of the event. Faisalabad and Sargodha divisions came second and third, respectively.
Karate
In the inter-division women karate competitions at the Sports Board Punjab Gymnasium Hall, Multan division won the title. Lahore and Faisalabad were declared joint second, and Sargodha came third. Fauzia Perveen of Lahore won the inter-division karate title in 58-kg category. Sadeema of Faisalabad finished second, and Sana Iqbal of Sargodha and Multan’s Saba came third. Misbah of Multan won the 52-kg class contest, with Mehwish Dilshad of Lahore second, followed by Shakira of Gujranwala and Umaira of Sargodha, who both came third. In the 48-kg category, Sumayya Muneer of Faisalabad came first. Multan’s Rifat came second, followed by Rukhsana of Sargodha and Sidra Saeed of Gujranwala, both sharing the third position.
Kabaddi
The inter-division kabaddi title was decided at Railways Stadium, Garhi Shahu, where Sahiwal took lead against Gujranwala (56-51) in a thrilling contest. Sohail, Akbar and Rashid remained major performers from the winning team. University of Central Punjab won the university-level kabaddi title beating Sargodha University in the final by 51-31. Punjab College won the college-level title, defeating Punjab College Faisalabad by 56-48.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 7th, 2014.