Last week, an international coaching course by British Olympian swimmer Nick Gillingham concluded at the International Swimming Pool in Nishtar Sports Complex. Leady Jo, also a British coach, also assisted Mr Gillingham. In the four-day coaching course where 200 boy and girl swimmers and 40 coaches learnt modern swimming techniques. Later, certificates were awarded to participant swimmers and coaches by Chief Secretary Zahid Saeed in a grand ceremony. Cricket legend Zaheer Abbas and hockey Olympian Akhtar Rasool Chaudhry were also present.

The International Swimming Federation allocated the course to its Pakistan’s chapter, which forward it to the Sports Board of Punjab (SBP). Such a high level course is allocated to Pakistan after seven years. Earlier, there were reports that Mr Gillingham and his team would not come to Lahore in the wake of the bomb blast on Ferozepur Road on July 25, some two or three kilometers from the venue of the coaching course.

The British coaches, however, braved the security alerts and conducted the courses. Mr Gillingham said he would visit Pakistan whenever he got any Pakistan-related assignment.

Mr Gillingham selected four boys and girls swimmers of different ages for modern training in England. The selected swimmers are: Danyal Ghulam Nabi (U-12), Azlan Khan (U-16), Maya Umer Chaudhry (U-14) and Jahan Ara (U-16).

Mr Gillingham said he was impressed with the Pakistani swimmers as after getting modern training they had the chance to earn medals in international competitions. He said he enjoyed his stay in Lahore.

He said the four picked swimmers could earn milestone if they remained consistent in training.

He was also all praise for the newly-built swimming pool, saying it was equipped with modern facilities. The pool, however, has yet to be inaugurated formally for which the SBP is waiting for an appointment from Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif.

The pool was completed after a considerable delay of eight years and still has not been inaugurated. The cost of the pool increased from Rs160 million to Rs600 million due to the delay.

Chief Secretary Zahid announced that the chief minister would inaugurate the pool very soon.

The last week, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) Chairman Shaharyar M Khan retired from the office after completing his three-year tenure and now the next chairman will be elected on Aug 9. Most probably, Najam Sethi, who has been working with Shaharyar as head of the most powerful executive committee of the PCB will be elected the next chairman, if no legal issue frustrates the move. During the three-year tenure of Shaharyar, the PCB earned some prominent success, including the top position in the Test cricket and the ICC Champions Trophy. The PCB also launched the Pakistan Super League (PSL) in 2016 and successfully held the final of the event in Lahore of the second edition in 2017, after holding matches in the UAE. Now the PCB has the plan to hold at least eight matches of the PSL in Lahore next year to gradually transfer the mega event to Pakistan. During this period, the ICC also terminated its ‘Big Three’ formula under which only India, England and Australia were the biggest beneficiaries of the income of game’s governing body, while the share of Pakistan had been reduced drastically.

Overall, PCB’s working remained stable during Shaharyar’s tenure. However, women cricket could not make any headline and several wrong decisions were taken before the Women World Cup. Both India and Pakistan also failed to resume bilateral series, which have been suspended since 2006.

Women hockey activities have begun at the National Hockey Stadium when the Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) decided to hold the 18th National Women Under-18 Hockey Championships. Two teams each from Punjab and Sindh, one each from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Balochistan and Islamabad and Pakistan boards are taking part in the championships. Punjab will defend its title.

The PHF has very limited playing opportunities for women. The country has no significant standing in the world of hockey. More competitions on regular basis should be organised for women hockey players to improve their game.

Published in Dawn, August 6th, 2017