Last week, the Lahore Ravi cricket team lost its title of Under-19 Inter-Region tournament mainly because of some unfair rules of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB). The Rawalpindi Rams emerged the new champions winning the final against Karachi Zebras at the Country Club ground, Muridke.

The PCB selected the Jinnah Stadium, Gujranwala, for a semifinal between the Ravi and the Rams. It was a good news that after a long time, Gujranwala was going to host such a big match. PCB authorities were unaware of the missing facilities of the stadium. Heavy rains spoiled the semifinal as the ground has two covers, not enough to cover the pitch. The PCB has many other grounds where proper facilities are available. Had the PCB fixed a reserve day for the semi-final, the finalists could be finalised on more professional ways. If a final is spoiled due to any reason, both teams share the trophy. But there is no alternate remedy for a team which lost a semifinal in such a way. There must be a comprehensive plan to get a result of the semifinal.

The Rams qualified for the final for a slight better run in the group matches compared to the Ravi.

Another mind-boggling decision by the PCB also went against Lahore Region. The PCB transferred Lahore’s coach Kamran Khan to Rawalpindi, just a few days before the Under-19 event. In fact, Kamran had selected and coached the Lahore Ravi team. There is no logic in this untimely transfer. However, Kamran proved his potential as his coaching helped the Rams win the title.

As no regional official is allowed to speak on such anomalies of the PCB, no LCCA man was ready to comment. According to the PCB code of conduct, regional office-bearers could even be suspended for making comment in the media. In fact, it is also one of the reasons, that the PCB could not remove its flaws because it is not ready to face criticism from any quarter.

Upcoming star from a tennis family of Lahore, Samir Iftikhar is busy in Las Vegas, USA, where he has qualified for the semifinal of USTA/ITA Mountain Regional Championships at the Darling Tennis Center. He defeated tough opponent Lobo, a second-seeded of the event with a score of 5-7, 7-6, 6-1 in the per-quarterfinals and Nevada’s Andrew Poustie, 7-5, 6-4 in the quarterfinals to reserve a place in semifinal this week. Iftikhar will face ninth-seeded Alex Gasson of Denver in the semifinals late on Saturday.

Samir is the first Pakistani who is also studying in the US on a tennis scholarship. He has also been representing Pakistan Davis Cup team. His grandfather Khawaja Iftikhar and father Tayyab Iftikhar and cousin Aisamul Haq all are Davis Cuppers.

A women kabaddi team camp is in progress at the Punjab Stadium preparing for the World Cup to be held in India in December.

Though the Sports Board Punjab is promoting, both men and women kabaddi teams and patronising their visits to India to play in the mega events for the last one year, huge funds are being wasted because the event has no international standing. Instead, every provincial sports board and the Pakistan Sports Board should focus on grooming the players of all games to get medals in Olympics, Asian, Commonwealth Games and other games organised under the IOC Charter as those games have huge credibility all over the world. In the past, the Punjab government spent billions on the youth festival to make unpopular records but our athletes performance at the recognised games, as mentioned above, is on a fast decline.

Now the dispute between the government of Pakistan and the Pakistan Olympic Association has almost been resolved, therefore, it is a time for the all to think about better standing of the country in sports at the international level, which is quite possible with right planning.

Model Town Football Academy is holding a family sports gala at C-2 ground, Model Town. Football matches are being held in different teams of Lahore, Gujranwala and some other cities.

Published in Dawn, October 19th, 2014