Inaugural Rugby of Peace kicks off

Tournament being played on international-standard pitch near Lodhran


Natasha Raheel May 01, 2015
PHOTO: SXC.HU

KARACHI: The Pakistan Rugby Union (PRU) inaugurated the Rugby of Peace tournament featuring 380 players in the Makhdoom Ali village near Lodhran on Friday as a part of the federation’s plan to introduce rugby at the grassroots level.

The three-day event kicked off at Pakistan’s first specialised rugby field, where a total of 67 matches will be played.

The PRU is holding the tournament in collaboration with Umeed Jawan Project, targeting the youth to channel their energy into rugby.

Rugby Development Officer Qambar Ali Haroon said that the project, featuring different rugby clubs and teams from schools, is one of a kind. He added that it took the PRU four months to prepare the international-standard pitch from scratch and is open for all.

“This is the first time that we have proper rugby poles set in southern Punjab,” Haroon told The Express Tribune. “We built it from scratch, from levelling the ground to planting specific grass, which we transported from Lahore. The children and rugby players in Lodhran never had any specific venue to play rugby on before.”

Haroon further said that four groups played 27 matches on day one, with Kotli Wajwa Sultan, Makhdoom Ali Sultan and 366 Cobra topping the table by winning all of their group matches. He added that the women’s tournament with 10 teams will begin on Saturday, while the final for the boys’ event will take place on Sunday.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 2nd, 2015.

Like Sports on Facebook, follow @ETribuneSports on Twitter to stay informed and join in the conversation.

COMMENTS

Replying to X

Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.

For more information, please see our Comments FAQ