PESHAWAR
The Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Sports Directorate Table Tennis Academy Friday organized a grand program in honor of Fahad Khawaja and his younger brother Ummam Khawaja of being the winners and runners-up of the 57th Quaid-e-Azam National Table Tennis Championship held in Lahore recently.
On arrival at the Peshawar Sports Complex, both new national champion Fahad Khawjah and his younger brother Ummam Khawajah were garlanded on their matchless performance of winning the 57th National Table Tennis Championship after defeating his younger brother Ummam Khawjah in the final.
It was a unique honor, the two brothers recorded for the first time, Director General Sports Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Khalid Khan told media men during the honouring ceremony.
Table tennis fans enthusiastically and warmly received both Fahad Khawjah and Ummam Khawjah while Shah Khan, hailing from Swat took third position in the Championship and one of the women player, also hailing from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Iqra Rehman, who overall took fifth position in the women singles but part of the Pakistan Army team won the women trophy.
DG Sports Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Khalid Khan, who was the chief guest at the event held at Arena Hall of Qayyum Sports Complex, lauded the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa players. President of the Association Asim Shiraz, General Secretary Shahid Afridi, former President Senior Sports Journalist Ijaz Ahmed Khan, Senior Journalist Nadir Khawaja, President KP Sports Writers Association Asim Sheeraz, Secretary Shahid Afridi and a large number of players and officials were also present on the occasion.
Khalid Khan said that due to their hard work and efforts table tennis has been promoted in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and a large number of players of different age groups are coming forward which is a great pleasure. He said that Fahad Khawaja, Ummam Khawaja, Iqra Rehman, Kainat Malik, Haseeb Khawaja, Shayan Farooq are some of the upcoming players playing in the top national ranking.
“We will encourage them at every turn so that they can continue to do better in the same way,” Khalid Khan said. He said that financial support will also be given to these players who have made the name of the country and the nation famous so that these players will continue their achievements unilaterally. Earlier, National Champion Fahad Khawaja addressed the function. He appreciating the efforts of DG Sports Khalid Khan, former DGs Asfandyar Khan and Junaid Khan to develop sports, he said that it was a result of their encouragement that today Khyber Pakhtunkhwa players as well as table tennis players are among leading players of the country.
He said that there is a need for further improvement in sports. He said that by hiring professional coaches and setting up camps, the players of our province would be able to perform better in the upcoming international competitions like Commonwealth Games, South Asian Games, Islamic Games and Asian Games.
He said that there is an urgent need for an indoor hall, specifically meant for table tennis in the Complex. A hall should be set aside for table tennis, Fahad said. He said that the Sports Directorate should provide financial support for playing leagues and tournaments abroad.
He said the ranking of the Pakistani players at international level could only be improved while playing league as well as much needed international events. Fahad thanked the officials of the Table Tennis Association and the Academy for organising this wonderful program. Kifayatullah, Vice President, Table Tennis Association, KP, said that the players of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa made their country and nation famous on national and international levels.
The top players in Pakistan table tennis are from Peshawar and Swat, which is because of the encouragement and incentives announced by the Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Mahmood Khan wherein more than 1250 athletes are giving month stipend on regular basis.
Fahad requested from the government that the players who become national champions should be encouraged at the government level and cash prizes should be announced for them.
On this occasion, coach Mian Absar Ali also addressed the gathering. He highlighted the performance of the players and also apprised the DG Sports about the requirements of the players.
It is also worth mentioning here that Ummam Khawaja won the South Asian Gold Medal at a young age of 12 years wherein players from Qatar, India, Sri Lanka, Maldives, China, Oman etc participated. Fahad Khawaja represented Pakistan in the last Commonwealth Games held in Gold Coast, Australia. China. Fahad also played in the Spain, Germany and France Leagues on his own expenses.
At the end of the program, shields were given to DG Khalid Khan and PD Prime Minister 1000 Playground Sports Facilities Murad Ali and Fahad Khawaja.
