LAHORE (Sports Report): Punjab’s biggest chess event - Punjab Open Chess Championship has concluded at the Nishtar Park Sports Complex Gymnasium Hall on Saturday night. Cash prizes worth lakhs of rupees were distributed among the winning players at the closing ceremony. Director Sports Rana Nadeem Anjum distributed prizes among the top position holders.
Secretary Sports and Youth Affairs Punjab Mohammad Ali visited Nishtar Park Sports Complex Gymnasium Hall to inspect the chess competitions. He also played an exhibition chess match. Secretary Chess Association of Punjab Raja Gohar Iqbal also presented a souvenir to Secretary Sports and Youth Affairs Punjab Muhammad Ali on this occasion.
Secretary Sports and Youth Affairs Punjab Mohammad Ali in his address at the closing ceremony said that Punjab Sports Department will organize a biggest chess event very soon. “The game of chess will be included in the Punjab Games and Chief Minister Punjab Pink Games”.
Secretary Sports and Youth Affairs Punjab Muhammad Ali said that a memorable chess event has been organized under the leadership of Punjab Sports Minister Malik Faisal Ayub Khokhar. “Several talented chess players have come to the fore in this grand event”.
He thanked all the team of Sports Board Punjab and Chess Association of Punjab. As many as 350 male and female players from all parts of Punjab participated in girls, boys and open category competitions in the Punjab Open Chess Championship.
Director Sports Rana Nadeem Anjum, Secretary Chess Association of Punjab Raja Gohar Iqbal and other chess officials were also present on this occasion.
The 2-day Punjab Open Chess Championship was organized by Punjab Sports Department with the collaboration of Chess Association of Punjab. The final competitions of the second and last day also started after Iftar and continued till Sehri time.
Top chess players from far flung areas shared their views about the event and expressed gratitude to Punjab Sports Department for organizing mega chess event in a successful manner.
As per results, in Masters category, top three positions went to Asad Ali, Tanveer MD Gillani and Hasan Tahir respectively.
In Amateur category, M Umair, Wajid Ali and Zeeshan Ali clinched top three positions.
In Women’s category, Fareeha Saddique, Noor Fatima Rashid and Sehrish shared top three positions respectively.
In U-16 category, Mohammad Chaudhry, Ahmed Usman and Ali Seena bagged top three positions respectively.
