Abdullah Asjad
ISLAMABAD (November 5, 2021):-The 3-day Chief of Army Staff (COAS) Pakistan Open International Taekwondo Championship (G-1) will start from Saturday (November 6, 2021) at Liaquat Gymnasium, Pakistan Sports Complex Islamabad, as the players from all participating countries have arrived in the capital city of Pakistan.
According to an official of Pakistan Taekwondo Federation (PTF), the competitions will start in the morning while the opening ceremony will take place at 5:30 pm. Federal Minister for Inter Provincial Coordination (IPC) Dr Fhemida Mirza will grace the opening ceremony as chief guests. Also, high dignitaries of sponsors, top officials of Pakistan Taekwondo and IPC ministry will be in the grand opening ceremony.
The diverse culture of the different areas of the country will be presented during the wonderful and colourful evening of taekwondo lovers. All the arrangements have been given final touches and the stage is ready for the prestigious taekwondo fixture of the world.
On Friday, the athletes of various countries held their training sessions in the morning and evening at the joint hall of championship showgrounds under the control of their respective coaches and officials.
Over 550 players, officials, technical referees and judges from different countries will be the part of COAS Pakistan Open Taekwondo International Championship 2021. Besides hosts Pakistan, Afghanistan, Albania, Nepal, Jordon, Kazakhstan, Oman, Egypt, Iran, Turkey, Morocco, United Arab Emirates (UAE), El-Salvador, Croatia, and WT Refuge Team will fight for 16 gold medals.
PTF official said: We have international standard equipment to meet the international challenges and PTF is capable of staging such a great event in future too. Our aim is to promote the game and highlight the positive image of Pakistan across the world through sports. We have a lot of support from the ministry IPC and the Pakistan Olympic Association (POA) to organize this event.
Responding to a question he divulged that PTF had also invited India for this event but they did not respond. “India has good taekwondo players, especially girls. Anyhow, we sent invitations to all countries. Many countries are not coming for this event owing to the airfares that have gone high due to covid-19. We have enough entries and a large number of players and officials will be in Islamabad for the mega taekwondo showpiece, “he said.
Sponsors played a vital role in organizing the mega event including Combaxx Sports, Fruit Nation, Go Petroleum, Bank Islami, The Bank of Punjab, Nayyab Labs, Korean Embassy, Islamabad Serena Hotel and Shangrilla Resorts.
