KARACHI, April 8: Billed as the biggest sports spectacle of the country — the 30th National Games — opens at Peoples Stadium in the south of the city on Monday with over three thousand men and women athletes vying for honours.

Karachiites have opened their arms to welcome the participants from all nook and corner of the country as the games returned to its birthplace after a decade.

It was few months after country’s coming into being when Father of the Nation, Mohammad Ali Jinnah, set the ball rolling by inaugurating the first National Games in 1948. The other occasions when the games took place in the city were 1970, 1976, 1980, 1988 and 1997.

Pakistan Army, winners of prestigious Quaid-i-Azam Trophy for a staggering 22 times, including 15 in a row, are likely to maintain winning streak despite the fact that Wapda have challenged their supremacy in recent times.

The soldiers, in all, amassed 226 medals (94 golds, 92 silver and 40 bronze) at Quetta while Wapda finished close second with 182 medals (88 golds, 35 silver and 59 bronze).

The occasion provides an opportunity for athletes of 11 affiliated units of POA to prove their mettle by competing against each other. The other nine units are Navy, PAF, Railways, Police, HEC, Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan and the NWFP.

Four outfits — Islamabad, Fata, AJK and Northern Areas —will make their debut in the biennial games after being granted special permission by the PSB.

The games are being contested in a record number of 27 discipline (men’s) and 16 (women’s). In addition, canoeing (men’s), softball (men’s and women’s) and chess (men’s) have been added as demonstration sports. Chess was included at the last moment. Strangely, basketball which is one of the most popular sport, could not find a place in so many disciplines for unknown reasons.

Disciplines:

Men’s: Athletics, badminton, baseball, body building, boxing, cycling, football, gymnastics, handball, hockey, judo, kabaddi, karate, netball, rowing, sailing, shooting, squash, swimming, table tennis, taekwondo, tennis, tug-of-war, volleyball, weightlifting, wrestling and wushu.Women’s: Athletics, badminton, cycling, gymnastics, hockey, judo, karate, netball, sailing, shooting, squash, swimming, table tennis, taekwondo, tennis and wushu.

Hosts Sindh will field biggest contingent of 613 athletes including 113 officials. The strength of other contingents are: Balochistan (440), NWFP (455), Punjab (537), Army (515), PAF (232), Navy (234), Police (318), Railways (392), Wapda (489) and HEC (247).

Pugilist Asghar Ali Shah will light the Olympic flame at the Peoples Stadium after receiving it at the end of torch relay which begins its journey from the Quaid’s Mausoleum.

Meanwhile, a full dress rehearsal was held on Sunday on the eve of the opening ceremony.

Monday’s schedule:

Athletics (PSB Coaching Centre); badminton (PSB Coaching Centre); baseball (UBL Sports Complex); Body Building (PN Karsaz); boxing (Kakri Ground); cycling (road race); football (Peoples Stadium); gymnastics (Physical Education College); handball (Police Ground); hockey (UBL Sports Complex); judo (Women Sports Complex); kabaddi (PN Karsaz); karate (Kakri Ground); netball (CDGK Sports Complex); rowing (Karachi Boat Club); shooting (PN Shooting Range); squash (PN Roshan-Jahangir Complex); swimming (CDGK Sports Complex); table tennis (Islamia Club); taekwondo (Women Sports Complex); tennis (CDGK Sports Complex); tug of war (Arif Shaheed Park, Nazimabad); volleyball (KPT Sports Complex); weightlifting (SSB Complex); wrestling (Arif Shaheed Park, Nazimabad); wushu (Peoples Stadium); canoeing (National Sailing Centre); softball (KPI Ground); chess (CDGK Sports Complex).

Roll of honour