LAHORE: High-level coaching and training facilities on a regular basis are required to shape up the talented athletes of little popular sports like table tennis, wushu and fencing, to bring them at par with the international standard. It is quite possible if the authorities concerned move ahead with a vision and adopt long term policies.
It was the crux of the talk with the athletes from Punjab who won medals in the 35th National Games, held in December in Karachi. The Punjab contingent, after a long period of 35 years, showed the best performance at the National Gala and returned with 16 gold, 38 silver and 72 bronze medals and earned fourth position among 14 participating units. Surprisingly, Punjab earned gold medals in table tennis, wushu and fencing despite having more professional opponents from the Army, Wapda, Navy, Pakistan Air Force, Railways and Police.
Zaib Hasnain notched up a gold medal while beating Sajid Ali, a strong rival from the Army in the final. Speaking to media, he says:“I want regular training facilities under an international coach. I did two months training in Thailand at my own expenses of Rs2m because I have passion for my sport. I also lost my private job due to that two-month course and sold my bike to meet the expenses.”
He says the Sports Board Punjab also held a two-week training camp which served a lot for preparations for the National Games but the wushu players need regular training facilities to compete with the strong rivals of Army, Wapda and other departments, he says.
Athletes spell out economic challenges they braved for their achievements
Zaib hopes that for winning a gold medal, he would also get a monthly stipend from the sports endowment of the Sports Board Punjab (SBP).
Maryam Rafique, who too seized a gold medal in wushu for Punjab, also demands better opportunities for the athletes on a regular basis. She says the SBP provided best facilities during the training camp and best food but the athletes require such things on a regular basis.
“I have six sisters and one brother and I want to become an earning member of my family to help out my father. Hopefully, I will get a monthly stipend from the endowment fund of the sports board,” she says.
Kalsoom Khan, who won four medals (one gold, one silver and two bronze) in different events of table tennis for Punjab, says that besides more training and coaching facilities, the athletes also want a crystal clear policy of the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) in issuing the no objection certificate (NOC) to the athlete to ensure their participation in the international competitions.
“We are not getting international exposure and if there is any opportunity, we face problems in getting the NOC from the PSB.”
Kalsoom had also earned a gold medal for Punjab in the last National Games held in Quetta in 2023. She, with Syed Awais Aslam, earned gold medal in the mixed doubles while silver in the team’s event, and two bronze medals in the women’s doubles and singles.
In fencing, Natasha Maqsood begged gold and bronze medals and Nawal also scooped a gold.
“The game of fencing is popular at some universities. I got training at the Punjab University and was able to win a gold, which was not expected” Natasha says.
Nawal Nadeem, however, is satisfied with her training process at a private university and she informs that many girls had joined the sport.
Both Natasha and Nawal have demanded better training facilities, saying the country has the talent to excel at the international level.
SBP Director General Khizar Afzaal Chaudhary claims that Punjab is far ahead in facilitating the athletes compared to other provinces of Pakistan. All the 126 medal winners of the National Games, he says, would be awarded cash prizes to the tune of Rs500,000, Rs300,000 and Rs200,000 for gold, silver and bronze medals, respectively, in the individual games and Rs800,000 for winning gold medals in the team events.
Afzaal tells media that all the medal winners would also be included in the Sports Endowment Fund to get Rs70,000 (Platinum category), Rs50,000 (gold category) Rs30,000 (Silver category) per month for one year to continue their training.
Afzaal says the good performance of Punjab was the result of hard work of the athletes, coaches and all staff of the SBP, who did hard work day and night during the games and before it.
“It’s not easy to get this position in the presence of departmental teams and we will continue to work on a more modern line to get better results in the next edition (of the Nation Games),” claims SBP DG..
Published in media, December 26th, 2025
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