PESHAWAR, Feb 18 (APP):Out of 300 participants, a promising 12-year-old Humam Ahmad of
Khyber Pakhtunkhwa created a new national record by winning National Snow
Hiking and Trekking Championship organized jointly by Directorate of Sports KP and
the Alpine Club of Pakistan at hill resort Nathiagali on Sunday.
The Alpine Club of Pakistan is affiliated with International Climbing and
Mountaineering Federation and International Federation of Sport Climbing which
involved more than 300 male and female players from across Pakistan in the Championship
played in three different categories.
Hailing
from KP Humam Ahmad, who is also holding Pakistan No. 1 ranking in Under-11
category in squash, cleared a hectic distance despite heavily covered snow
trekking and got first position overall.
Abu
Zafar Sadiq, the Secretary General of the Alpine Club of Pakistan and Secretary
Alpine Association Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Najeeb Ullah Khattak lauded Humam Ahmad
of winning gold medal in the National Hiking and Trekking Championship.
It
is for the first time that 25-member male and female teams took part in the
National Snow Hiking and Trekking Championship under the supervision of
Directorate of Sports KP and Alpine Association KP.
Besides
Humam Ahmad, Hanzala Zafar of Islamabad took silver medal while Humam’s elder
brother 14-year-old Haris got bronze medal. Women category Chaman Mushtaq of
Islamabad recorded first position, followed by Saba Ahmad of Sindh and
Mahjabeen of Gilgit-Baltistan.
In
the Men’s overall competition wherein 133 participants Sajid Aslam of Azad
Jammu and Kashmir took gold medal, Muhammad Riaz of Balochistan won silver
medal and Junaid Ali of Islamabad got third position with bronze medal. The female of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa comprising Laiba
Ahmad, Kalsoom, Zohra, and Kainat recorded fourth, fifth, sixth and seventh
position out of a total of 112 contestants. The male of KP comprising Muhammad Bakhtiyar got overall fourth
position, followed by Tahir Khan and Shams-ur-Rehman fifth position.
Speaking on this occasion
Abu Zafar Saqid lauded DG Sports KP Junaid Khan for extending all out support
to the organizing committee besides sending KP teams for the Championship for
the first time in game history. He said KP boys and girls have lost of talent
if provided due opportunities of snow hiking, trekking, mountaineering.
He
said there are more narrow hiking and trekking spots at Nathiagali, famous for
its scenic beauty and trekking. He said players from across Pakistan took part
in the snow hiking and trekking under pine and oak trees and lush green grass
adding to the beauty of Nathiagali.
The
mountains in Nathiagali are great for trekking, he said, adding, “the Championship
attracted large number of youth both male and female in this adventurous sports
financed by the DG Sports KP with the aim to provide ample opportunities to the
youth to come and enjoyed adventurous sports.”
He
said, the trekking started from the Governor House till Miranjani Hill which is
the tallest in that area and the height is 2960 meters. The participants were
divided in three different categories. He said in the first category boys in
the age of Under-20 took part in the male contest, followed by girls and youth
categories. He said after day long trekking, which also attracted tourists from
the entire country and foreigners as well.
Nathiagali
is also a great station in the snowfall season, he said, adding, “It is covered
with snow entirely and adds to its scenic beauty. One can plan a trip and take
their kids where you can make a snowman and have a snow fight.”
He
said a final selection would be made so that all the top position holders would
be kept in the camp for further training so that they could represent Pakistan
in the international events as well.
At
the end, he distributed medals and trophies to the position holders. He also
appreciated Najeed Ullah Khattak for his efforts in fielding KP players in the
national event.