Former World No. 2 badminton icon Tariq Wadood visits Peshawar
Tariq Wadood, the former national champion for eleven years, arrived on a week long visit to Peshawar from United States and was warmly garlanded at Qayyum Sports Complex, Peshawar.
Reported by Ijaz Ahmad;
Former badminton champion Tariq Wadood arrived on a week long visit to Peshawar from United States and was warmly garlanded at Qayyum Sports Complex, Peshawar.
Deputy Director Sports Aziz Ullah Khan, Director Sports KP Hamid Khan, Secretary KP Badminton Association Haji Muhammad Amjad, international badminton player Syed Sadaqat Shah, coach Muhammad Nadeem, upcoming badminton players and large number of spectators were also present.
Badminton Champion Tariq Wadood, who won the world No.2 position in 1979, visited the Peshawar Sports Complex and met with badminton players and officials.
Tariq Wadood, who hails from Peshawar, has been a national champion for eleven years from 1974 to 1985 and now lives in the US.
He visited Tariq Wadood Badminton Hall, which is named after him way back in 1990.
Tariq Wadood appreciated the initiatives taken by Directorate of Sports KP for the promotion of badminton in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in particular and in the country in general. He said KP govt is working very hard and took key steps in ensuring international standard facilities to the players that is why KP got the honor of having Under-16, Under-18, National Junior and National Senior Champions.
He said Qari Adnan and Mehwish won international medals in the Asian Championship besides winning top position at Under-18 by Zohaib Khan in Junior level while Murad become the National Senior Champion and also won a medal in SAF Games held in Katmandu, Nepal. He said, govt is encouraging the players with cash incentives besides providing monthly stipend and sports scholarship.
A huge step has been taken by allocating a sports budget of Rs. 28 Billion annually. In the Under-21 Games he said, 22,907 players are taking part in 27 women and 32 men games which gives them good opportunities to come and show their hidden talent.
At the same time, the government has decided to take 100 coaches. It is best to have qualified coaches of all games including badminton. Tariq Wadood also termed providing international exposures to the players which would certainly help them to be in top ranking.
