Sports in Pakistan

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Field hockey is the national sport of Pakistan but cricket is the most popular game ^{[citation needed]}. Traditional games like Kabaddi and other well known games are also played.

Contents 1 National Participation 1.1 History 2 International Participation 3 Popular sports in Pakistan 3.1 A1 Grand Prix Formula Racing Series 3.2 Adventure 3.3 Alpine 3.4 Athletics 3.5 Australian Rules football 3.6 Badminton 3.7 Baseball 3.8 Basketball 3.9 Billiards & Snooker 3.10 Bodybuilding 3.11 Boxing 3.12 Bridge 3.13 Chess 3.14 Cricket 3.15 Cycling 3.16 Equestrian 3.17 Field Hockey National sport 3.18 Football 3.19 Golf 3.20 Gymnastics 3.21 Gulli Danda 3.22 Handball 3.23 Judo 3.24 Jump Rope 3.25 Kabaddi 3.26 Karate 3.27 Polo 3.28 Rifle Shooting 3.29 Rowing 3.30 Rugby 3.31 Sailing 3.32 Shooting Ball 3.33 Shuttlecock 3.34 Ski 3.35 Squash 3.36 Swimming 3.37 Table tennis 3.38 Taekwondo 3.39 Tennis 3.40 Volleyball 3.41 Weightlifing 3.42 Wrestling 3.43 Yachting 4 Board Games 4.1 Carom Board 4.2 Ludo 4.3 Monopoly 5 Card Games 5.1 Blackjack 5.2 Bridge 5.3 Gin 5.4 Poker 5.5 Ruff 5.6 Rummy 5.7 Trump 6 Children's Games 6.1 Tag Game 6.2 Hopscotch 7 Puzzles and Quizzes 7.1 Bait Bazi 8 Popular Sports on the Rise 9 See also 10 External links

[edit] National Participation

[edit] History

Muhammad Ali Jinnah had a great love for sport and fully released the vital role it played in the development of Nations and inculcation of discipline among the masses.

In a meeting with the Organizing Committee of the First Pakistan Olympic Games held at Karachi the Quaid-i-Azam said to the first President of Pakistan Olympic Association Mr. Ahmed E.H. Jaffar: "Dedicate yourself to sports promotion, for when you and I are gone, leadership will go into the hands of Youth, and Youth is our wealth, a raw material, that must be hammered into shape, into burnished steel to strive and smite in defence - the defence of the integrity and solidarity of Pakistan - the defence of the ideology of Pakistan."

The first National Games were held at Polo Ground, Karachi from 23rd to 25th April, 1948. Sportsmen and officials from East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) and all the integrated Provincial units of West Pakistan took part in these Games. The total number of athletes was 140. No competitors were, however, invited from any foreign country. Competitions were held in track and field athletics, basketball, boxing, cycling, volleyball, weightlifting and wrestling.

[edit] International Participation

• Olympic Games
• Commonwealth Games
• Asian Games
• South Asian Federation Games
• Cricket World Cup

[edit] Popular sports in Pakistan

[edit] A1 Grand Prix Formula Racing Series

Adam Khan, the first Pakistani Grand prix driver has pledged to wear Pakistan flag whenever he races, as part of an initiative to integrate Pakistan into the exciting world professional motor sports. Ian Khan took part in FIA GT Championship.

See also: A1 Team Pakistan

[edit] Adventure

[edit] Alpine

[edit] Athletics

Athletics Federation of Pakistan (AFP) is organizes athletic tournaments in Pakistan. Athletics Pakistanis compete in various athletic events including. Some of the Pakistani Athletes excelled in various events in the distant past. Ghulam Raziq, Mubarak Shah, Nawaz and Muhammad younis are some of the athletes who got prominence at Asian level.

[edit] Australian Rules football

Aussie Rules was established in Pakistan in 2006. The governing body is the ARFFP. There are currently four football teams in Pakistan, all based in the Swat Valley around an educational institution.

[edit] Badminton

It is very popular in Pakistan and is played in neighbourhoods a lot and in Pakistan they call it 'Chiree Chika'

[edit] Baseball

Pakistan Baseball Federation organizes baseball leagues and tournaments in Pakistan. Pakistan Baseball Federation hosted 7th Asia Baseball Championship. [1]

[edit] Basketball

[edit] Billiards & Snooker

Snooker is one the rising sports in Pakistan. Pakistan has raised a few great players, namely, Sarwar Siddiqui, mohd. Yousuf and Amir Bux.

[edit] Bodybuilding

[edit] Boxing

Pakistan Boxing Federation (PBF) is organizes boxing matches in Pakistan. The Pakistan Amateur Boxing Federation (PABF) organized amateur matches.

[edit] Bridge

[edit] Chess

[edit] Cricket

The most popular sport, followed religiously in Pakistan, is cricket. Pakistan has historically produced several multi-talented players who have been among the best batsmen and bowlers in the world, including Imran Khan, Wasim Akram, Waqar Younis, Javed Miandad and Inzamam-ul-Haq. Almost every district and neighborhood in Pakistan has its cricket team and most people start playing from a young age. Pakistan has won some international cricket events, including the World Cup in 1992.

Pakistan has one of the top bowlers and batsmen ranked in the world. Pakistan's bowlers are known for developing and perfecting the art of reverse swing bowling to a high degree of proficiency.

See Also : Pakistani cricket team,

[edit] Cycling

[edit] Equestrian

Equestrianism had traditionally been limited to the upper-echelon of Pakistani society up until the end of the 20th century. Private sponsorship and government funding for the sport has increased dramatically. Pakistan Eventing began in 2005 and in partnership with the Equestrian Federation of Pakistan (EFP) will usher in Pakistan's first international equestrian entry at the 2006 Asian Games in Doha. The EFP currently aims to qualify for the 2008 Summer Olympics as Pakistan's first Olympic equestrian entry.

[edit] Field Hockey National sport

Pakistan Hockey Federation (PHF) is the official organization of field Hockey in Pakistan. The Pakistan men's team has won three gold medals at the Olympics and lifted the Hockey World Cup four times. Pakistan has won the gold medal at the Olympics and the Hockey World Cup a few times. It has also won the most number number of Asian gold medals and is the only Asian team to have won the prestigious Champions Trophy. It has been consistently ranked amongst the top 5 teams in the world.

Pakistan Hockey Federation Women Wing (PHFWW) is the official organization of Women's field Hockey in Pakistan. Razia Malik has been appointed Captain of Pakistan women hockey team to participate in the Asian Games Qualifying Round at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia from June 4 to 11, 2006.

[edit] Football

Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) is the official organization in Pakistan. Football (soccer) is played mostly on a local level, primarily in Balochistan and North West Frontier Provinces. Those areas provide most of the players on the national team, though mostly on a local level.

Pakistan Football Federation Women Organizing Committee (PFFWOC) is responsible for Women's football in Pakistan. Islamabad will host Second National Women Football Championship from August 19, 2006.

In 2004, the Pakistan Premier League was established in place of the National Championship. It is the first division of Pakistani football.

The Pakistan National Football Challenge Cup is the national "knockout" cup competition in Pakistani football, run by Pakistan Football Federation. It was created in 2005, in place of the President PFF Cup.

[edit] Golf

The Pakistan Open was founded in 1967 and became an Asian Tour event in 2006.

[edit] Gymnastics

[edit] Gulli Danda

Gulli Danda is a local sport popular in rural areas of Pakistan.

[edit] Handball

[edit] Judo

[edit] Jump Rope

Main article: Jump rope

[edit] Kabaddi

Main article: Kabaddi

Pakistan Kabaddi Federation (PKF) organized kabaddi matches in Pakistan.

[edit] Karate

Pakistan has many Karate clubs, and tournaments are routinely held.

[edit] Polo

Polo, which is believed to have originated in Central Asia, and continues to be an important sport there with several large annual competitions. The Shandur Polo Tournament, played at the world's highest pologround, is one of the biggest tourist draws to Chitral and Gilgit in Northern Pakistan.

[edit] Rifle Shooting

[edit] Rowing

[edit] Rugby

The Pakistan Rugby Union was formally established in 2000 and gained membership with the Asian Rugby Football Union in 2000. In 2003, Pakistan fielded a national team for the first time, participating in the Provincial Tournament in Sri Lanka. In Nov of 2004, it participated in the 19th Asian championship in Hong Kong. Pakistan rugby union then became an associate member of the IRB (International Rugby Board). There are three major clubs in Pakistan; Lahore Rugby Football Club(LRFC), Islamabad Jinns and Karachi Rugby Football Club (KRFC).

www.pakistanrugby.com

[edit] Sailing

[edit] Shooting Ball

[edit] Shuttlecock

[edit] Ski

Skiing is a popular sport in the northern area resorts of Pakistan.

[edit] Squash

Squash is another sport that has a large following. Jahangir Khan and Jansher Khan are considered legends of the sport and have won several World Squash Championships and other tournaments.

Squash. Jahangir Khan and Jansher Khan are considered to be two of the greatest squash players of all time. Pakistan has won the squash World Open 17 times, the highest by any nation. Carla Khan represented Pakistan in recent Squash tournament.

See Also : Category:Pakistani squash players

[edit] Swimming

[edit] Table tennis

[edit] Taekwondo

[edit] Tennis

Tennis is also very popular and Pakistanis compete in various international events. Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi recently defeated Paradorn Srichaphan of Thailand to win the Asia-Oceana Zone 1 section of the Davis Cup.

[edit] Volleyball

Volleyball is popular in the Pakistan Armed Forces. Inter-services games are regularly played. Volleyball is also popular amongst young people attending private schools in Karachi.

[edit] Weightlifing

[edit] Wrestling

[edit] Yachting

Byram Dinshawji Avari represented Pakistan at the 1978 Asian Games in Bangkok and again at the 1982 Asian Games in New Delhi. He also won a silver medal at the Enterprise World Championship held in Canada in 1978.

[edit] Board Games

Board games are very popular in Pakistan especially among women.

[edit] Carom Board

Carom Board is a family of tabletop games sharing a similarity in that their mechanics lie somewhere between billiards and shuffleboard.

[edit] Ludo

Ludo is very popular board game in Pakistan.

[edit] Monopoly

Monopoly is know as Crorepati Beaupar' in Pakistan

[edit] Card Games

There are several Card games very popular in Pakistan.

[edit] Blackjack

[edit] Bridge

[edit] Gin

[edit] Poker

[edit] Ruff

Ruff is popular in Pakistan.

[edit] Rummy

[edit] Trump

Trump is popular in Pakistan.

[edit] Children's Games

[edit] Tag Game

Tag (also known as it, had, he, tig, chasing, and other names) is an informal sport or game (see also playground games) that usually involves one or more players attempting to "tag" other players by touching them with their hands.

[edit] Hopscotch

[edit] Puzzles and Quizzes

[edit] Bait Bazi

Bait Bazi is played by using poetry verses. A player has to reply by another verse starting with the last alphabet of the verse used by the previous player. You cannot repeat a verse already been used. The rules becane more stringent for experienced players like using verses only of only one Poet or a theme. It is popular with women and peort enthusiasts in Pakistan.

[edit] Popular Sports on the Rise

Other popular sports followed on TV include;

• Formula One motor racing
• Basketball (NBA)
• Rugby
• Table tennis
• Chess
• Badminton
• Gymnastics

[edit] See also

• Culture of Pakistan

Life in Pakistan

Cinema • Climate • Cuisine • Culture • Demographics • Economy • Education • Entertainment • Flag • Foreign relations • Geography • Government • History • Holidays • Languages • Military • Music • Politics • Religion • Sports • Transport

[edit] External links

• Pakistan Sports Board