KARACHI, Feb 23: The president of the Pakistan Olympic Association (POA), Lt Gen (retd) Syed Arif Hasan on Wednesday acknowledged that Sindh has made rapid progress towards strengthening the base of sports in every nook and corner of the province within a short span of time.

He said the base is vital at the grassroots level as medals in global competitions come through a system.

He was speaking at a well-attended reception held in his honour by the Sindh Sports Minister, Dr Mohammad Ali Shah, at a local hotel to fete him on his re-election at the helm of POA for third time in succession.

Two other officials of the POA, secretary Khalid Mahmood and treasurer Haji Mohammad Shafiq, who had specially flown in from Lahore, were also present on the occasion.

He said after devolution under the 18th Amendment, provinces have to play an important role and tap the talent at school level. He assured to extend all expertise to its provincial chapter, the Sindh Olympic Association (SOA), in this regard.Amidst applause, the POA top official announced launch of inaugural National Beach Games in the city which is blessed by a large sea coast.

“We’ve a lot of potential in beach games and can made a mark soon in the world,” he added.

He went on to say that the National Beach Games will serve as a curtain-raiser for holding South Asian and later Asian Beach Games at the same venue.

Earlier, Dr Shah welcomed the POA officials for accepting the invitation and gave a resume of the SOA activities. He stunned the audience by announcing that 100 volleyball courts would be inaugurated soon across the province.

The minister attributed the uplift of sports to the vision of provincial secretary sports, Shoaib Siddiqui whom he termed as a livewire.

Speaking on the occasion, Shoaib said he was enjoying his association with the department as he has got complete independence in his job.

He said Sindh’s achievements have been acknowledged in Islamabad time and again which is a matter of great satisfaction for everyone.

The ceremony that lasted for an hour was attended among others by hockey stalwarts Islahuddin Siddiqui, Samiullah, South Asian Games sprint Queen, Naseem Hameed, Rafia Haleem, Ahmed Ali, Engr. Mahfooz-ul-Haq, Mohammad Talib, Arif Nakhuda, Rubina Arif, Arif Khan, Brig (retd) Rashid Malik, Abdul Nasir and Khalid Rehmani.