17 sports heroes of KP honored with sports awards
PESHAWAR (APP): The Directorate General of Sports Khyber Pakhtunkhwa organised a prestigious ceremony to honour 17 distinguished sports personalities and athletes for their outstanding contributions to the promotion and development of sports in the province and bringing international recognition to Pakistan.
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Sports Heroes Awards ceremony recognised 17 prominent personalities from various sports disciplines in acknowledgement of their remarkable achievements and services.
The award recipients included former world squash champions Jansher Khan and Qamar Zaman, hockey Olympian Naeem Akhtar, former provincial sports minister Syed Aqil Shah, Test cricketer Imran Khan, current national hockey team player Zakaria Hayat and international gold medallist in taekwondo Maimoona Baloch, among others.
The ceremony, held at Nishtar Hall Peshawar, was attended by Adviser to the Governor Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on Sports and Youth Affairs Dr Sarfaraz Ali and Adviser to the Governor on Information Samar Haroon Bilour as chief guests. They distributed awards among the sports heroes.
Secretary Sports Asif Khan, Director General Sports Wasif Khan, President Provincial Olympic Association Haroon Zafar, Naimatullah, AIG Telecommunications Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police Shazia Shahid, Secretary AIPS Asia Amjad Aziz Malik and Nazia Zaki were also present on the occasion.
Addressing the ceremony, Dr Sarfaraz Ali congratulated all the award recipients and appreciated their contributions towards bringing laurels to Pakistan through their exceptional talent, dedication and hard work.
He said there was still a lot to be done for the development of sports, adding that the heroes had achieved their remarkable positions through years of hard work and dedication.
“We salute these heroes for their achievements. These awards are a recognition of their valuable services and a token of appreciation for their contributions,” he said.
He said the initiative was aimed at acknowledging the achievements of accomplished sports personalities, encouraging young athletes and inspiring the next generation to pursue excellence in sports.
Speaking on the occasion, Samar Haroon Bilour appreciated the Sports Department for honouring national heroes and recognising their outstanding contributions.
She said these personalities had enabled the nation to hold its head high with pride at the international level.
She expressed hope that such initiatives would continue in future to encourage talented athletes and acknowledge the services of distinguished sports personalities.
Three categories — Legends, Champions and Emerging Talent — were introduced for the awards.
Under the Legends category, awards were presented to former world squash champions Jansher Khan and Qamar Zaman, former provincial sports minister Syed Aqil Shah, former Mr Pakistan Shiraz Muhammad, former world number two squash player Mohibullah Khan, former hockey Olympian Naeem Akhtar and Director Sports Rashida Ghaznavi for her services towards promoting women’s sports.
In the Champions category, Test cricketer Imran Khan, current national hockey team player Zakaria Hayat and international taekwondo gold medallist Maimoona Baloch were honoured for their outstanding achievements.
Similarly, the Emerging Talent category recognised national karate gold medallist Murad Khan, sailing athlete Hijab Ajmal, judoka Syed Faisal Shah, bodybuilder Shahid Khan, judoka Asifa Noor and table tennis players Usman Khan and Fahad Khawaja for their promising performances and achievements.
