KARACHI: Major Raja Aziz Bhatti Shaheed XI beat Major Mohammad Akram Shaheed XI 49-43 in the opening match of the Defence Day Basketball tournament which commenced here at the Arambagh-Abdul Nasir courts on Monday.

For the winners, Hamza Khwaja (16 points), Hasan Iqbal (12 points), Humayoun Aslam (10 points) and Faizan Yousuf (8 points) were the main scorers. For the losing team, the leading scorers were Zainul Abideen (14 points), Nofil Ali (12 points) and Shariq Waseem (10 points). The match was watched by a handsome crowd that included a big number of ladies as well as many female basketball enthusiasts.

Later, chief guest Deputy Commissioner Syed Salahuddin Ahmed paid rich tribute to the martyrs of the country for their sacrifices. He emphasised that the Defence Day should be celebrated by everyone in a graceful manner and praised the Karachi Basketball Association (KBBA) for organising this tournament in memory of the great soldiers of Pakistan.

He disclosed that the next PAF basketball tournament will also see top arrangements and leading teams will be competing in it.

Earlier, a message from President Pakistan Olympic Association (POA) Gen (retd) Arif Hassan was read out to the audience, expressing solidarity with the nation on Defence Day as well as support for basketball and other sports.

Also present on the occasion were KPT’s GM Sports Col Baseer Alam, PTF’s Khalid Shamsi, Pres­ident KBBA Ghulam Mohammad, SOA’s Asif Azeem, PSWA’s Shahida Parveen, Yoga Federa­tion’s Mohammad Arshad and other sports personalities.

Published in Dawn, September 9th, 2020