KARACHI: Ali Shan Zulifiqar and Aimen Pardesi shone in the 100m and 200m sprint at the U-20 All-Karachi Athletic Championship held in memory of Khawaja Kaleem Ghani on Saturday at the National Coaching Center’s tartan track in Karachi.

Fifteen schools, colleges and clubs participated in the championship which was organized by Sindh Track and Field Club in collaboration with Pakistan Sports Board Islamabad, the championship witnessed great displays of competitive spirits throughout the day. A key feature of the championship were combined cash prizes and awards of Rs. 50,000 distributed across winning athletes in 14 events.

The team from Sindh Track and Field club picked up the winner’s trophy in both men and women categories. Pakistan Steel Cadet College and DA College picked up the runners up prize in men and women category respectively.

In addition to winning the best sprinter cash prizes, both Shan and Aimen they collected the best athlete cash prizes as well.

Sehrish Qayum claimed the Khawaja Kaleem Ghani memorial award for best middle distance runner by winning the gold in the 400m and 800m sprint. Pakistan Steel Cadet College Ahmed Shah won the men’s best middle distance award by winning the 800m sprint in 2 min 18.64 seconds.

The meet was graced by the presence of Sir Taleb of Athletic Fitness School, Senator Dr. Kareem Khawaja and Zahid Rizvi of Sindh Athletic Association. Taleb Sahib recounted the contributions made by Khawaja Kaleem Ghani to athletics in an era where Pakistan had limited facilities and resources but no shortage of spirit.

Participating teams included Cedar College, Whales College, DA Girls College, St. Josephs College, Generation School, Pace Athletics Club, MSB School, Froebels Education Centre, Head Start, Universal Track and Field Academy, Cadet College PSCC, Jinnah Government School, Dehli College and Sindh Track and Field Club.

Published in Dawn, October 2nd, 2016