KARACHI: Two matches were played on the opening day of the 3rd Dr Muhammad Ali Shah Memorial Basketball tournament, being organized by Karachi Basketball Association at Abdul Nasir basketball courts here at Arambagh on Friday night.

In the first match of the day, Usman Club overcame Patrician Stars 41-36 in an interesting contest. Scorers for the winners were Usman Khawaja 14 points, Humayun Aslam 12 and Faizan Yousuf 10 points.

For the losing side, Steven Fernandez was the main scorer with as many as 19 points with valuable support from Jibran Siddiqui 10 points.

In the second match, Falcon Club beat Karachi Bulls 33-30 in a close contest. Scorers for the winners Sheheryar Nasir and M Sabih who scored 10 points each while Muhammad Shabbir scored 8 points.

Earlier, Mrs Asma Ali Shah, wife of former Sindh Minister Dr Muhammad Ali Shah and Chairperson of KHA Women wing was the chief guest at the opening ceremony and declared open the event,

Speaking on the occasion, Asma Shah - who is also the Chairperson of North Nazimabad Sports Committee - said that the event is aimed at promoting the game of basketball at grass root level and also paying tributes to late Dr Muhammad Ali Shah to remember his contribution to sports in the city.

She announced that a girls and boys basketball matches will be played at the newly-built state of the art gymnasium at North Nazimabad Gymkhana in collaboration with CM Sindh Murad Ali Shah, who is an avid sports lover and promoter as well.

KBBA President Ghulam Muhammad Khan, PTF Vice President Khalid Jamil Shamsi, Eng Mehfoozul Haq, and former national basketballer Abdul Nasir besides a number of sports personalities were also present on the occasion.

Published in Dawn, March 15th, 2020