Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Swat region Inter-District men games began amidst tight security in and around Makanbagh with great enthusiasm was witnessed among male participants here on Thursday. Minister for Sports, Tourism, and Youth Affairs Mehmood Khan was the chief guest on this occasion who formally inaugurated the games amidst thundering applause and jubilation.
Speaking on this occasion, Mahmood Khan said that since the inception of PTI government, efforts have been started to provide maximum sports and recreational facilities for youth so that youth talent could be provided on national and international level. The minister said that the project of a provision of playgrounds and stadiums on tehsil level is under way and hurdles in the timely completion of the project are being removed in order to enable the youth of far-flung areas to have modern sports facilities.
The minister said that the present government has provided all male and female schools in the province with sports goods and sportsmen with sports kits to enable them to show their talent. The minister announced that the project of a large sports complex at Swat will be started in the current financial year. Besides, the Minister announced that Astro-Turf will be installed at hockey ground Makanbagh Mingora.
The minister said that this year Pakistan Bodybuilding Tournament will be held at Swat which will also help in increasing tourist attraction of Swat. Earlier, the ceremony was started with the recitation from Holy Quran by Hamad Ullah, followed by Yasin Khan with a Naat. He also formally inaugurated the competitions by cutting a tape while colourful events were also presented like a stunning tug-of-war played between members of the Swat Press Club and Organising Committee which was largely enjoyed by capacity crowd with their cheering support.
More than 1000 players from all five districts comprising Shangla, Chitral, Dir Upper, Dir Lower and Swat are taking part in the 15 different games including cricket, hockey, football, karate, taekwondo, judo, boxing, tennis, squash, basketball, volleyball, athletic, badminton, and table tennis.