PESHAWAR: Hazara Region on Sunday won the cricket title at the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Minority Sports Festival organised by the Directorate General of Sports, defeating South Region in a closely contested final.

The multi-sport festival featured a range of sporting and recreational competitions involving minority athletes from across the province.

In the football event, South Region emerged victorious after beating Malakand Region in the final, while Minority Eleven defeated the Sports Department team in the tug-of-war contest.

Other competitions included musical chairs and food contests. Wazirzada secured first position in the musical chairs event, while Senior Shoban and Junior Gerik won the senior and junior categories of the food competition respectively.

The director general sports KP, Tashfeen Haider, distributed trophies and prizes among the winning athletes at the closing ceremony.

Former MPA and president of the Insaf Minority Wing Wazirzada and former MPA and secretary of the Insaf Minority Wing Ravi Kumar attended the event as special guests.

Among others present were director operations Jamshed Baloch, deputy director sports Kashif Farhan, assistant director sports Ashfaq Ahmad, senior vice president Waqas Khokhar, director establishment Naimatullah Marwat, Faisal Javed, Saeed Akhtar, Irshad Khan and Adnan Joseph.

Speaking at the ceremony, Mr Haider said the provincial government was committed to providing equal sporting opportunities to minority athletes across the province.

He described the Minority Sports Festival as an important initiative aimed at promoting inclusion, harmony and grassroots talent development.

Mr Haider said the event was organised on the directives of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa chief minister and adviser to the chief minister on Sports Taj Muhammad Khan Tarand, adding that similar events would continue in the future.

Published in Dawn, May 25th, 2026