Qayyum Stadium

Qayum Stadium
Tenants
The Q.S
Pakistan
Full name	Qayum Stadium (official name)
Location	Peshawar, Pakistan
Owner	Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Operator	Government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa
Capacity	15,000
Surface	Grass
Opened	1975
Peshawar Football team Boxing club Athletics Peshawar Olympic Team Peshawar badminton Club Karaty Club Peshawar Club Ground

The Qayum Stadium, located in Peshawar, KPK, is one of the largest multi-use stadiums in Pakistan and the biggest in Peshawar. It is mostly used for football matches and is home to the Peshawar football club. It also hosts other domestic and international sporting events, such as the All Pakistan Inter-varsity Athletics Championship. The stadium holds 15,000 people and is within walking distance from peshawar sadar and the railway station.

Early history

Founded in 1975, the Qayyum Stadium (Q.S) selected the current MCG site in 1975 after previously playing at several grounds around the different parts of Peshawar. Since then it is used for multipurpose games.

Stadium development

The first grandstand at the Q.S was the original cricket club’ built in 1975, Another grandstand facing one way to the badminton club is football ground.

Cricket

Cricket in Pakistan has a history of even before the creation of the country in 1947. The first ever international cricket match in what is Pakistan today was held in Karachi on November 22, 1935 between Sindhi and Australian cricket teams. The match was seen by 5,000 Karachiites. It was introduced by the British during their colonial rule of British India, which covered the area now known as Pakistan. Despite Field hockey being the national sport of Pakistan, cricket is the most popular sport in the country. Pakistan has produced many talented cricketers who have been among the best batsmen and bowlers in international cricket. There is a cricket academy working in qayyum stadium.

Qayyum stadium has his own cricket academy where youth came in large number.

Wrestling

World famous Japanese wrestler Muhammad Hussain Inoki and his team reached Qayyum Stadium Peshawar on Wednesday to participate in the Inoki’s Wrestling for Peace Festival. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Minister for Information Mian Iftikhar Hussain, Sports Minister Syed Aqil Shah and a large number of spectators warmly welcomed them. Chairperson Standing Committee for Sports, MPA Shagufta Malik, Secretary Sports, Syed Jamaluddin Shah, Secretary Information, Azmat Hanif Orakzai and Director General Sports Altaf Omerzai were also present. The guests were decorated with traditional Chitrali Caps and Shawls. Khattak Dance, Mehsud Dance, Para Gliding, Horse Dance and traditional games “Peto-Garam, Gulli Danda” and Kabaddi were played on the occasion. Addressing the ceremony as chief guest the Information Minister, Mian Iftikhar Hussain said through holding Inoki’s Wrestling for Peace Festival and four other national events in the Provincial Capital Peshawar, it has proved that the circumstances in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were fit for holding all types of games and the dwellers of this land were peace-loving and that they hated insurgency and militancy. Announcing the formal launching of the Inoki’s Wrestling for Peace Festival at Qayyum Stadium Peshawar, Mian Iftikhar Hussain said that through sports and other tourism related activities in the province, we want to convey the message of peace to the whole world. He said the peace-loving people of Pakhtunkhwa were not militants rather militancy had been imposed on them. Information Minister said all out efforts would be made for the successful holding of Bacha Khan International Wrestling for Peace Championship at Qayyum Stadium Peshawar from December 8 and 9, 2012 wherein teams from India, Sri Lanka, Balngladesh, Afghanistan and Pakistan would participate. This bacha khan international wrestling was won by Pakistan

Squash

Jahangir Khan, six times winner of the Squash World Open.

Squash is another sport in which Pakistanis have excelled in international competition. Successful world-class squash players such as Jahangir Khan and Jansher Khan won the World Open Squash Championship several times during their careers. Jahangir Khan also won the British Open a record ten times. Pakistan has competed many times at the Olympics in field hockey, boxing, athletics, swimming, and shooting. Pakistan's Olympic medal tally stands at 10 of which 8 were earned in hockey. The Commonwealth Games and Asian Games medal tallies stand at 65 and 160 respectively. Squash is very popular game among the youth of peshawar. there is Qamar Zaman Squash Complex established in 1992 in Qayyum Stadium Peshawar. Legends like Qamar Zaman, Jan Sher Khan and Mohibullah has also played squash here.

Hockey

The national sport of Pakistan is hockey, in which it has earned 8 of its 10 Olympic medals,^[1] including three gold medals (1960, 1968, and 1984). Pakistan has also won the Hockey World Cup a record four times (1971, 1978, 1982, 1994).^[2]

Football

Main article: Football in Pakistan

Football is the second most popular sport in Pakistan. Football has also enjoyed a powerful growth as a spectator sport, and is slowly catching up to cricket in the TV ratings (2008 statistics). The Pakistan Football Federation (PFF) is the governing body in Pakistan. Football is played mostly on the local level, primarily in Balochistan and Swat Valley. These areas provide most of the players on the Pakistani national football team. The Pakistan Football Federation Women Organizing Committee (PFFWOC) is responsible for women's football in Pakistan. In 2004, the Pakistan Premier League was established and is the first division of Pakistani football. The Pakistan National Football Challenge Cup is the national "knockout" cup competition in Pakistani football, run by the Pakistan Football Federation. The Pakistan National Women's Football Championship is the annual women's championship. Notable players include Muhammad Essa, Zeshan Rehman, and Haroon Yousaf. Qayyum stadium has his own ground for football.

Badminton

The Pakistan Badminton Federation, formed in 1953, organises the sport in Pakistan. Men's players such as Irshad Ahmed and Saeed Malik, and Women's players like Elsie Hunt and Nighat Sultana, have won a number of tournaments. Pakistan's golden era was between the 1950s and 1970s. Badminton is also very popular in Peshawar and is played in Qayyum stadium.

Athletics

A Kurash martial art tournament.

The Athletics Federation of Pakistan (AFP) organizes athletic tournaments in Pakistan. Pakistani athletes compete in various athletic events. Some Pakistani athletes have excelled in various events in the distant past including some like Ghulam Raziq, Mubarak Shah, John Permal, Muhammad Talib, Ahmed Sajjad Cheema, Abid Hussain, Arshad Saleem, Ali Kamani and Nawaz, Mohammad Alam, and Muhammad Younis are some of the athletes who got prominence at either Asian or International levels, or both, winning gold medals for Pakistan.^[3] YMCA no more a hub of sporting activities. In the early decades, Pakistanis held many Asian records including the Asian 100 m and 200 m record held by Abdul Khaliq. Pakistani female athletes have also represented Pakistan at international level, such as Shabana Akhtar, who was the first Pakistani female athlete to participate at the Olympics. International events such as the Lahore Marathon take place in the country. Qayyum stadium also have an Athletics acedmy.

References

↑ Bill Mallon; Jeroen Heijmans (2011). Historical Dictionary of the Olympic Movement (4th revised ed.). Scarecrow. p. 291. ISBN 978-0-8108-7249-3.
↑ V.V.K. Subburaj (30 August 2004). Basic Facts of General Knowledge. Sura College of Competition. p. 771. ISBN 978-81-7254-234-4. Retrieved 22 April 2012.
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