LAHORE, March 5:A 64-member Pakistan contingent left for Melbourne, Australia on Sunday to take part in the 18th Commonwealth Games to be held from March 15 to 26.

The squad was to leave from Islamabad on Saturday but the departure was rescheduled due to security measures taken in the federal capital in the wake of the visit of US President Bush.

Pakistan are to compete in athletics , badminton, boxing, cycling, gymnastics, hockey, shooting, squash, swimming, table tennis and weightlifting. Sixteen managers, coaches and officials are also included in the squad.

Eleven more members are due to leave on March 11.

Kamran Lashari is the Chef-de-Mission .

Pakistan hope to win medals in hockey, boxing, shooting, squash and weightlifting.

Pakistan have participated in 13 editions claiming a total of 21 gold, 17 silver and 18 bronze.

They did not compete in the four episodes of the games from 1974 to 1986.

The hockey team has to perform outstandingly to claim its first gold medal in the games.

Contingent: Chef de Mission: Kamran Lashari.

General Team Manager: Rizwan-ul-Haq.

Secretary/Treasurer: Col. Rana Shujaat Ali.

Doctor: Waqar Ahmed.

Physiotherapist: Kamran Mehdi Changezi.

Athletics: Mohammad Khalid Mahmood (manager), Maj Mahmood Riaz (coach). Athletes: Mohammad Shah, Ashraf Ali, Mohammad Sajjad, Mohammad Arfan Hussain (men), Parveen Akhtar, Bushra Parveen (women).

Badminton: Syed Naqi Mohsin (manager). Players: Wajid Ali Choudhary, Umer Zeeshan. Boxing: Syed Haroon Masood (manager), Reinaldo Alvare Ulacia (coach from Cuba).

Boxers: Mehrullah, Asghar Ali Shah, Abid Ali, Mohammad Nisar, Nauman Karim. Cycling: Idrees Haider Khawaja (manager), cyclists (Mohammad Saleem, Imran Sharif).

Gymnastics: Parvaiz Ahmed (manager), Syed Saifud Din Ahmed (gymnast). Hockey: Mohammad Saeed Khan (manager), Mohammad Asif Bajwa (coach), Rana Mujahid Ali (assistant coach), Riaz Ahmed (doctor). Players: Mohammad Saqlain (captain), Salman Akbar, Nasir Ahmed, Zeeshan Ashraf, Mohammad Imran, Syed Imran Warsi, Imran Khan Yousafzi, Dilawar Hussain, Adnan Maqsood, Rehan Butt, Mudassar Ali Khan, Shakeel Abbasi, Tariq Aziz, Mohammad Shabbir, Mohammad Adnan Zakir, Mohammad Zubair.

Shooting: Karamat-ur-Rehman (manager). Shooter: Irshad Ali, Khurram Inam, Maqbool Hussain Tabassum (men), Miss Nazish Khan, Urooj Fatima, Mehwish Maqsood Khan (women). Squash: Jamshed Gul Khan (coach). Players: Shahid Zaman, Mansoor Zaman, Aamir Atlas Khan, Khayal Mohammad Khan. Swimming: Maj Majid Waseem (manager), Veena Masud (women’s coach).

Swimmers: Nasir Mehmood, Nk Nisar Ahmed (men), Kiran Khan, Rubab Raza (women). Table tennis: Farjad Saif (manager/coach). Players: Mohammad Asim Qureshi, Kashif Razzaq (men), Miss Ghalia Khursheed, (women).

Weightlifting: Naveed Aslam Malik (coach).

Weightlifters: Mohammad Ishtiaq Ghafoor, Mohammad Irfan, Shujaud Din Malik, Sajjad Amin Malik.