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KARACHI Formidable Karachi collected 138 medals (78 gold, 34 silver and 26 bronze) to retain the overall trophy in the 12th Sindh Games which concluded at the Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto Stadium in Larkana on Sunday.
Hyderabad finished runners up with a tally of 109 medals (23 gold, 47 silver and 39 bronze) while Sukkur had to be content with third position with 81 medals (20-19-42). Hosts Larkana settled fourth with 72 medals (12-24-36) while Mirpurkhas was placed at bottom with 48 medals (7-15-26).
Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah, who graced the occasion as the chief guest, awarded the glittering trophy to the chef-de-mission of Karachi contingent Dr Farhan Essa at a colourful ceremony.
Larkana was awarded the Fair Play trophy which was received by their athlete Abdullah Chandio.
The torch that was lit on the opening day of the games was extinguished to mark the closing.
The closing ceremony was attended among others by provincial ministers Agha Siraj Durrani, Ayaz Soomro, Tauqir Fatima Bhutto and Dr Mohammad Ali Shah. Secretary sports Sindh, Shoaib Siddiqui was also present.
The chief minister announced an enhancement of 25 percent grant for sports in the next financial year. He asked the sleuths of law enforcement agencies to vacate stadiums which have been occupied by them in Karachi.
Paying compliments to Dr Shah for staging the games, he announced a personal award of Rs0.2 million for him.
Surprisingly, Karachi athletes displayed pathetic performance and finished fourth in men's track and field events which were dominated by Sukkur, Larkana and Hyderabad finished second and third respectively.
However, Karachi earned some consolation when their women athletes won top honours.
Hyderabad finished runners up while Sukkur was third.
Abdullah Chandio of Larkana and Almas Ibrahim of Karachi were declared 'Best Athletes' in the men's and women's categories respectively.
Final medals position
Karachi 78 34 26
Hyderabad 23 47 39
Sukkur 20 19 42
Larkana 12 24 36
Mirpurkhas 7 15 26
