By Syed Khalid Mahmood
KARACHI: The curtain fell on the 13th Sindh Games 2010 with a spectacular closing ceremony under floodlights here at the Asghar Ali Shah Stadium in North Nazimabad on Wednesday.
There was live music and fireworks to entertain the participants and the cheering crowd.
Sindh Education Minister, Pir Mazhar-ul-Haq, declared the Games closed after awarding the Mohenjodaro Trophy to Karachi, who extended their complete dominance in the provincial event by winning it for the 13th time in a row.
Sindh Sports Minister, Dr Mohammad Ali Shah, who is also President of the Sindh Olympic Association (SOA), attributed the success of the Games to teamwork and he recognised the contribution of the various individuals and institutions.
He announced that the 14th Sindh Games would be staged in Sukkur early next year while Mirpurkhas will be the venue of the 15th Sindh Games in 2012.
In his welcome address, Shoaib Ahmed Siddiqui, Secretary Sports & Youth Affairs to the Government of Sindh, observed that the smiles on the faces of the participating athletes and their officials from every nook and corner of the province was a reflection that sports indeed spread happiness.
Karachi Region, by securing as many as 115 gold medals, stood head and shoulders above their nearest rivals Hyderabad who bagged 15 gold medals with Sukkur, Larkana and Mirpurkhas sharing the next three positions. Larkana, however, had the consolation of collecting the Fair Play Trophy.
The individual glories also came Karachi’s way as the versatile female athlete, Almas Ibrahim, repeated her feat in Larkana a year ago by bagging seven gold medals again. Javed Taqi was declared the best male athlete for having earned seven gold medals in swimming. (The News)
