PESHAWAR
\nGovernor Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Faisal Karim Kundi on Wednesday said the province\u2019s youth possessed immense talent but lacked quality sports facilities and modern training, pledging all-out efforts to promote sports, nurture young athletes and improve sports infrastructure across the province.
\nAddressing an interactive session organized by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Sports Writers Association at the Governor House, he said providing modern sports facilities and professional coaching was essential to enable talented athletes to compete successfully at national and international levels.
\nThe session discussed sports promotion, development challenges and future strategies in the province. It was attended by International Sports Press Association (AIPS) Asia Secretary General and Pakistan Sports Writers Federation President Amjad Aziz Malik, KP Sports Writers Association President Asim Shiraz, Secretary Shahid Afridi and a large number of sports journalists.
\nGovernor Kundi distributed awards and certificates among distinguished sports journalists in recognition of their services.
\nHe regretted that Khyber Pakhtunkhwa did not have a single fully developed first-class cricket stadium and said athletes continued to face an acute shortage of playgrounds and basic sports facilities.
\nHe said many players failed to progress in international competitions due to the lack of quality infrastructure, modern coaching and advanced training.
\nThe Governor said promoting sports would not only provide positive opportunities for youth but also strengthen peace, harmony and healthy social values.
\nHe said that more than half of Pakistan\u2019s national cricket team players belonged to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, reflecting the province\u2019s exceptional sporting talent.
\nExpressing concern over the decline of squash and hockey, he said Pakistan had dominated world squash for 16 consecutive years, but no player had matched the achievements of Jahangir Khan and Jansher Khan in recent decades, while the country\u2019s national game, hockey, also required urgent revival measures.
\nGovernor Kundi said preparations for the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Champions League were in full swing and the opening ceremony would be held on July 18.
\nHe said six teams would participate in the league, with each team required to include one national cricketer.
\nHe thanked Pakistan Cricket Board Chairman Mohsin Naqvi for issuing the no-objection certificate (NoC), saying it would help boost cricket in the province.
\nHe said sponsorship had already been arranged for several players and more talented athletes would be supported to help them represent Pakistan at national and international forums.
\nThe Governor also praised the achievements of athletes from the province, including Pakistan\u2019s mountain adventurer Samar Khan, describing her as a source of pride and inspiration for young people.
\nHe announced that a special ceremony would soon be held in honour of the families of martyred journalists of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and reaffirmed that Governor House would continue supporting sports promotion, youth development and the welfare of the journalist community.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
PESHAWAR Governor Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Faisal Karim Kundi on Wednesday said the province\u2019s youth possessed immense talent but lacked quality sports facilities and modern training, pledging all-out efforts to promote sports, nurture young athletes and improve sports infrastructure across the province. Addressing an interactive session organized by the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Sports Writers Association at the Governor …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":100351,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-100339","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100339","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=100339"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100339\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":100371,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/100339\/revisions\/100371"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/100351"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=100339"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=100339"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nabanews.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=100339"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}