19th PVCA National Seniors Cup being contested by 103 teams

A total of 103 outfits from 50 cities, having been divided in 31 groups, will be participating in the 19th edition of the National Seniors Cup Cricket Tournament 2017-18 being organized by the Pakistan Veterans Cricket Association (PVCA) and sponsored by Omar Associates (Pvt) Ltd while Naya Nazimabad will be the co-sponsors.

The details about the event, whose Southern Zone matches will be getting underway on February 10, were shared by Fawad Ijaz Khan, Chairman, PVCA, in a media briefing at the Karachi Gymkhana on February 6.

Nadeem Omar, Managing Director, Omar Associates, was also present on the occasion alongwith Akbar Iqbal Puri, President, Karachi Gymkhana, Abdul Haq, representing Naya Nazimabad, and the PVCA officials, Alamgir Ahmed, Amjad Islam Rishi, Shariq Hasib Khan and Mujahid Hamid.

Fawad Ijaz Khan noted that the level of fitness of the cricketers, having crossed the age of 40, has improved considerably over the years primarily due to the introduction of the National Seniors Cup.

Nadeem Omar reckoned that the senior cricketers were also making a significant contribution in the development of the sport, complimenting the PVCA to have withstood the challenges and delivered against the heaviest of odds.

Akbar Puri informed that besides installing floodlights at the Karachi Gymkhana Cricket Ground, the club was looking forward to having more proactive role in cricket in near future.

It was disclosed that 34 city teams from Punjab, 8 from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, 5 from Sindh, 2 from Islamabad one from Baluchistan will be taking part in the tournament whose national final, to be contested between the Champions of Northern and Southern Zones, will be taking place in Karachi on 22nd April. The total prize money in the event will be Rs 694,000.

Karachi Gold Bridge will be taking on Karachi Lucky Knitts in the inaugural match of the Southern Zone  at Naya Nazimabad Cricket Ground on February 10.

In the Southern Zone competition, Omar Associates, Fact Date Engineering, A A Pakwan, CAA and Quetta are placed in the Group A while the Group B comprises of RLCA, Gold Bridge, Airport Gymkhana, Haseen Habib and Lucky Knitts with Hyderabad, Badin, Jamshoro and Mirpurkhas being the drawn in the interior Sindh group.

The group matches of the Southern Zone, taking place at Karachi and Hyderabad, will be of 20 overs each innings whereas the Zonal finals as well as the National Final will be of 30 overs per innings. The group matches will be organized on single league basis.

The matches of the Northern Zone, having got underway last November, are being played at Rawalpindi, Bahawalpur, Multan, Okara, Lahore, Kasur, Sheikhupura, Muridke, Faisalabad, Gujranwala and Sialkot while the matches of the Southern Zone will be played at Karachi and Hyderabad.

Amjad Islam Rishi will be the Tournament Coordinator while the Southern Zone Committee will be headed by Alamgir Ahmed.

The National Seniors Cup, contested annually between the selected teams of the various cities, has been organized by the PVCA every season since they its launch in 1998.

The PVCA has attained not only national but international recognition. It has played three series of limited overs matches against Indian Veterans featuring mega stars on both sides. It also organized a series of matches against touring Canadian Veterans Cricket team in February 2017 and they are again touring Pakistan later this month to play a series of matches in Karachi and Lahore.

Besides organizing Seniors/Veterans/Super Veterans Cricket, the PVCA is also promoting School Cricket as well having already organized eight successful editions of Inter-School Cricket Tournament in Karachi.

Asghar Valika commends Mazhar Puri’s towering contribution to Pakistan snooker

Glowing tribute was paid to Mazhar Iqbal Puri, one of the founders of the Pakistan Billiards & Snooker Association (PBSA), for his monumental contribution in having revived cue sports in the country.

Ali Asghar Valika, who had succeeded Mazhar Puri as the helmsman of the PBSA in 1988 and went on the lead the body with distinction for the next couple of decades, recalled the attributes of his predecessor who had passed away after protracted illness 15 years ago.

Mazhar Puri and Asghar Valika had jointly laid down the foundation in the 1980s which has resulted in the development of snooker on such strong footings in Pakistan.

“Besides being an enthusiastic and prolific cueist himself, he was a visionary leader who was extremely passionate to promote cue sports in a big way in Pakistan. We shared the common passion and interest which prompted us to work together in order to accomplish the mutual goal of taking Pakistan snooker to another level,” Asghar Valika, now the Chairman of the PBSA, remarked in an interview at the Karachi Club on February 2.

“He had proposed me as the Vice President of the PBSA in 1986 when he was its President. His initiatives and drive inspired me greatly as we began the journey of reviving Pakistan snooker in the truest sense of the word. What happened next is history which we all know,” he recalled.


“Today Pakistan has become one of the major snooker nations of the world. Let’s place on record the

huge contribution Mazhar Puri had made in sowing the seeds for the transformation. He had initiated the revival of snooker in the country and I had the satisfaction of carrying forward his mission,” the PBSA Chairman complimented.

“He was the motivating force behind the formation of the PBSA in the early 1980s, which had replaced the Billiards Association of Pakistan (BAP) as the governing body of cue sports in the country. Today PBSA has become a household name. Its accomplishments are known to everyone. Its founders deserve to be recognized and admired,” Asghar Valika reckoned.

“I am sure Mazhar Puri would have been proud to see where the Pakistan snooker stands today as the hard work as well as the sacrifices of its founders have yielded results. He hasn’t lived long enough but his dream of bringing home the world title was fulfilled in his lifetime,” the PBSA Chairman added.

“Snooker was in his blood and his sons Imran Puri, who played in the professional circuit in England, and Akbar Puri, currently President of Karachi Gymkhana, have inherited the same passion,” Asghar Valika concluded.