The Punjab government is considering a proposal to construct a bus terminal to facilitate buses of the Tourism Development Corporation of Punjab (TDCP) in the Nishtar Sports Complex.

The proposal is not conducive to the sports atmosphere. According to initial reports, the provincial government is looking for a suitable place to develop the bus terminal in the Nishtar Sports Complex.

The Punjab government has already encroached upon the sports complex, establishing Al-Hamra Open Hall and Punjabi Language Centre, besides having its many offices working in it.

These buildings have, in fact, defaced the sports complex. Instead of removing these non-sports buildings from the complex, the provincial government is considering adding more structures to it.

Earlier, the Punjab government was also contemplating a sports-killing proposal of developing a lake in the historical Iqbal Park Sports Complex instead of reconstructing the demolished indoor gymnasium.

Incumbent sports minister Rana Mashood had assured the sports lovers, some two years back, that another gymnasium would be built in Iqbal Park after completing the development work in the area.

Recently, the provincial government had launched anti-encroachment drive in the Qadhafi Stadium, restricting owners of eateries to their limit and vacating the greenbelt area from them.

A short training camp of Pakistan World Cup squad concluded this last week at the Qadhafi Stadium. The squad is ready to fly to New Zealand to first play a two-match series against the hosts before starting their campaign for the mega event which is being held from next month in Australia and New Zealand.

The chilly weather and rain wasted the practice session for one day as later the sunshine throughout the week allowed the PCB to hold the camp at the Qadhafi Stadium.

With this Lahore has maintained its record of holding training camps for most of the World Cups. Though Pakistan have no bright chances to win the tournament, the nation is pinning hopes on getting better results.

The Tauqir Dar Hockey Academy honoured its stalwart hockey player Arslan Qadir this last week for showing excellent performance in Pakistan 4-2 win against India before Indian crowed in the Champions Trophy held in December last year. He was honoured with a cash purse of Rs150,000 by Olympian and head of the academy, Tauqir Dar.

Arslan scored two goals against India, including the match-winner in the dying minute to help Pakistan beat India in the semi-final and book a place in the final of any world class event after two decades.

Arslan, who earned praise from all quarters for performing outstandingly, thanked his academy and said it had polished his talent.

The Tauqir Dar Academy has produced a good number of international players since it started functioning eight years back.

Hamid Niaz, the head tennis coach of Model Town Sports Club, along with assistant coach Salman Afzal will attend the International Tennis Symposium at Hilton Head Island, SC, USA, to be held from Feb 17 to 24. The symposium is being held under the banner of the Professional Tennis Registry.

Almost 64 karate coaches across the country are attending a refresher coaching course at the National Coaching Centre, Lahore.

The course is being conducted in the light of the latest rules and regulations of the World Karate Federation (WKF). Practical sessions and lectures will be conducted in which all rules regarding coaches will be briefed.

Coaches from Wapda, army, police, railways, Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan, KP, Islamabad, Fata and Women Karate Association are attending the course.

National coach Khalid Noor and (TI) Farman Ahmed are instructors.

Published in Dawn January 18th , 2015

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