Commonwealth Games
The Commonwealth Games is an event of many sports that held after every four years. It held in between the Olympics. In 1930 the first edition of Commonwealth games was held in Hamilton Canada. It’s also known as British Empire Games. The Commonwealth Games open ceremony is on Thu, Jul 28, 2022 in Birmingham in the United Kingdom. England is hosting the commonwealth games. This is the third time that England hosts the commonwealth games in which 72 nation’s athletes are participating and territories. These are;
- Australia
- Bangladesh
- Bahamas
- Belize
- Canada
- England
- Fiji
- Ghana
- India
- Malaysia
- Malta
- New Zealand
- Montserrat
- Nigeria
- Northern Island
- Pakistan
- Singapore
- Sri Lanka
- Turk & Caicos Islands
- Zambia and others.
In the Commonwealth games, there are 280 events and 20 sports schedules.
Games:
In the commonwealth games, these games are included,
- Hockey (men),
- women T20 cricket,
- swimming,
- athletics,
- badminton,
- boxing,
- wrestling,
- weightlifting,
- judo,
- squash,
- Gymnastics and table tennis.
Women’s cricket will be played for the first time in the commonwealth games 2022.
Pakistani Team:
The Pakistani team of the commonwealth games is 103 athletes including coaching staff and officials. The total number of women athletes is 27 including players’ women’s cricket team. Pakistani players will participate in swimming, Athletics, Squash, Para-Athletics, Squash, Table Tennis, boxing, Badminton, Gymnastics, Hockey, Judo and wrestling.
Cricket
The cricket matches are held in Birmingham’s cricket stadium. Pakistan women cricket team players are;
Bismah Maroof, Nida Dar, Diana Baig, Anam Amin, Kainat Imtiaz, Aliya Riaz, Muneeba Ali, Omima Sohail, Fatima Sana, Aiman Anwar, Gull Feroza, Saidia Iqbal, Tuba Hassan, Iram Javed, and Ayesha Naseem. Bismah Maroof is Captain of the women’s cricket team along woth Gul Feroza & Muneeba Ali Siddiqui are wicketkeeper in the commonwealth games 2022. Bismah Maroof,is considered one of the highest run scorer in Pakistan’s women cricketing history, was country’s flag bearer at Commonwealth Games 2022.
Wrestling:
Muhammad Inam Butt will be participating in wrestling. Inam is one of the best athletes in Pakistan. He won two times gold medals in the commonwealth games, in 2010 and then in 2018. He also won the award of Pride of performance in 2019.
Javelin Throw:
Arshad Nadeem is participating in Javelin throw. Arshad Nadeem securing 5th position in the javelin event at the World Athletics Championship. Nadeem threw at a distance of 86.16cm.-
Pakistani Hockey Team:
Men’s hockey matches will be held at the University of Birmingham’s hockey fields.
Ghazanfar Ali, Umar Bhuuta, Shakeel Butt, Munahhmad Abdullah, Ajaz Ahmad, Hammadudin Amjad, Ishtiaq Khan, Abdul Hannan Shahid, Afraz, Akmal Hussain, Junaid Manzoor, Abdullah Ishtiaq, Ahmed Nadeem, Abdul Mannan, Abdul Waheed, Sulman Razzaq, and Moin Shakeel are the member of Pakistani Hockey team.
The Pakistani hockey team got the championship in Asian Championship 2018. They also got Gold medals in Olympics three times in 1960, 1968, and 1984. Hockey is a Pakistani National game.
Boxing:
A female boxer Mehreen Baloch is participating in the Commonwealth Games.She will represent Pakistan at the Birmingham Games. Mehreen Baloch is the first female boxer who represents Pakistan in Commonwealth Games. she won many medals. She also won a bronze medal for Pakistan in the South Asian Games.
Conclusion:
Pakistan got almost 75 medals in Commonwealth Games from the first edition. Pakistani athletes work hard to achieve their goals. They set their goals high for Commonwealth Games. It’s a good sign that a large number of Pakistani athletes participating in the Commonwealth Games. All the best and a lot of prayers for Pakistani team. Government must promote sport and appreciate those who represent Pakistan in different games and bring medals for Pakistan.
Never give up, never give in,
And when the upper hand is ours,
May we have the ability to handle the win with the dignity that we absorbed the loss.
Doug Williams
