The 16th Sindh Games opened with Larkana’s Tahir Soomro claiming the first gold of the day in the men’s shotput event.
Soomro broke his own record when he covered a distance of 12.55 metres. Hyderabad’s Shafiullah bagged the silver medal and Karachi’s Naheed Khan finished third.
The games will continue for three days, featuring 34 events for males and 14 for females. Six different venues in Hyderabad have been allocated for the event, with teams arriving from Karachi, Hyderabad, Larkana, Sukkur and Mirpurkhas.
In other events, Karachi took home two gold medals with Sylvester Dean winning the 5000-metre race and the women’s team gaining victory in the 4×100 relay race. Hyderabad secured second position and Mirpurkhas finished third in the same event.
Hyderabad took gold in the men’s 4×100 relay race while Karachi had to be content with silver and Larkana secured third position.
Elsewhere, Karachi defeated Hyderabad 15-4, 13-15, 15-13 in the Sepak takraw men’s match, while Mirpurkhas outplayed Larkana 3-1 in the men’s volleyball opening match.
In the league games, Larkana defeated Mirpurkhas in football 4-3. Meanwhile, Hyderabad defeated Karachi 41-38 in the Kabaddi event.
Earlier in the day, the ceremony was opened by Sindh sports minister and Sindh Olympic Association (SOA) president Dr Mohammad Ali Shah.
Responding to concerns surrounding the association’s decision to hold the games twice a year, Shah defended the move by stating that the games provided much-needed opportunities to athletes all over the province to display their talent.
“We are holding the games twice a year to give maximum chances to athletes,” said Shah. “There should be more appreciation than criticism for this. Our message through the games this time is that sports create harmony by bringing people together. That is the purpose of holding the Sindh games.”
