LAHORE: Competitions at the 73rd Punjab Games, featuring 5000 players from all the eight divisions of the province, commenced across different venues following an opening ceremony here on Monday.

The first golds came in cycling as Lahore won two in the men’s race while Gujranwala claimed two in the women’s race at the NPSC Velodrome.

Gujranwala set up a semi-final in women’s basketball against Faisalabad after beating Sargodha 12-10 at the NPSC Gymnasium Hall. Multan will clash with Lahore for a place in the final after beating Sahiwal 10-8.

Lahore thrashed Sargodha 11-0 in the baseball event being played at Punjab University’s New Campus. In other matches, Sahiwal hammered Dera Ghazi Khan 10-0, Faisalabad toppled Rawalpindi 10-1 and Multan crushed Bahawalpur 8-3.

Goals by Ali Raza and Naeem Abbas saw Sahiwal down Faisalabad 2-0 at the Punjab Football Stadium while Dera Ghazi Khan prevailed 3-0 on penalties against Gujrat after the match had ended goalless.

Published in Dawn, October 25th, 2022