Rawalpindi, October 11, 2021 (PPI-OT):The 24th National Baseball Championship started at Army Cricket Ground GHQ Rawalpindi. The championship will be played from October 11 to 17, 2021. Talking to media, Secretary General of Pakistan Federation Baseball Sheikh Mazhar Ahmed said that after the situation of Covid-19 improved in the country, the federation decided to hold the 24th National Baseball Championship in collaboration with the Army Sports Directorate. The championship will be played at Army Cricket Ground GHQ Rawalpindi from October 11-17. Teams from Pakistan Army, Pakistan WAPDA, Pakistan Police, HEC, Punjab, Balochistan, Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Islamabad and Gilgit-Baltistan are participating in the championship. The Army team will defend its title.
Sheikh Mazhar Ahmed said that Col. (retd) Shujaat Ali Rana was the Chief Guest at the inaugural function of the event. President Pakistan Federation Baseball Syed Fakhar Ali Shah welcome the Chief Guest. Accompanying him on the occasion were Senior Vice President of the Federation Muhammad Mohsin Khan, Jamil Kamran Chairman Baseball Umpiring Association, Musaddiq Hanif Chairman Baseball Coaching Association, Fakhar Ameer Kazmi Legal Advisor, Col. Sadaf Akram Secretary Army Sports Directorate and the Managers of the participating teams. After the national anthem, the Chief Guest was introduced to the players.
Three matches were played on the opening day of the tournament. The opening match was played between Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Gilgit-Baltistan. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa beat Gilgit-Baltistan 12-0 in a one-sided contest. Wasim, Syed Athar, Inam and Owais scored two runs for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa while Abid, Ehtesham, Farooq and Junaid scored one run each.
In the second match, WAPDA defeated Islamabad 7-5 after a tough contest. Mukarram Usman scored 2 runs for WAPDA while Muhammad Zakir, Muhammad Wasim, Sumair Zawar, Umair Bhatti and Noman scored one run each. For Islamabad, Fazal Rabi, Suleiman, Muhammad Fayyaz, Rehan and Owais scored one run each.
The third match was to be played between Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and HEC, but the HEC recorded a protest against a player of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa before the jury, saying that the player was a regular WAPDA employee, while under the rules of the tournament, departmental players cannot be part of the provincial teams without the permission of the department. After examining all the evidence, the jury declared the HEC team the winner. Thus, the HEC team has reached in the League Round. In the League Round, the teams are divided into two groups. Group A includes Army, Punjab, Balochistan and Sindh while Group B includes WAPDA, Police, HEC and Islamabad.
For more information, contact:
Pakistan Federation Baseball
Punjab Stadium, Ferozepur Road,
Lahore, Pakistan
Tel. +92-42-353-41121
Fax + 92-42-357-11828
E-mail: pakistanfederationbaseball@hotmail.com