PESHAWAR: Inter-Zonal Women Volleyball, Netball and Handball Championships under the aegis of Higher Education Department Khyber Pakhtunkhwa got underway here in a colourful opening ceremony held at Post Graduate College No.1 for Women Haripur on Friday. GMC and Coordinator Naeem Abbasi and Deputy Director Sports Arshad Hussain were the guests on the occasion who inaugurated three different Women’s Games including volleyball, netball and handball. Principal Post Graduate College Haripur Prof. Dr. Nighat Shaheen, Principal Government Girls Degree College Haripur Ayesha Batool, Principal, Professors and Lecturers Physical Education and Sports, Director Sports, Officials and a large number of players of various colleges were present on the occasion. The first-year student Sehrish started the colourful opening ceremony with the recitation from the Holy Quran, followed by Zainab Arshad who presented a Naat. International player Faryal led all the contingents by holding the national flag during the smart March Past of the eight contingents of eight different zones from all over Khyber Pakhtunkhwa including Dera Ismail Khan, Mardan, Bannu, Kohat, Malakand, Swat, Peshawar and Hazara. Soon after the March Past, the guests, officials and players of eight different contingents stood for the National Anthem, followed by an excellent national song presented by Laiba. Laiba, a first-year student, presented the national song “Pakistan Zindabad Hum Sindhi, Balochi, Punjabi chahay Pathan Hain Hum Sab Pakistan Hain” and got thundering applause from the participants. Principal Government Post Graduate College for Women Professor Dr. Nigat Shaheen thanked all the guests on this occasion and said that it is a source of pride for Hazara Division that they are organizing three different sports events for women and the hope is that by organizing these events, not only the players of Hazara division will benefit but it will help in bringing the women players of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to the national and international level. The women athletes of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa have always performed very well and some of them have given outstanding performances at the national and international levels. She said such events would provide ample opportunities for the girl players to show their hidden talent and through this way, they would come up at the national and international levels. Addressing the players on this occasion, Arshad Hussain said that in the light of the special instructions of the Secretary Education and Director of Higher Education, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, all measures have been taken to provide all possible facilities to the players. He also appreciated the management committee for providing excellent accommodation to a large number of players besides taking other steps for the smooth sailing of three different sporting events including Volleyball, Netball and Handball. He said that for the first time the winner and runners-up teams of each game have been invited to represent their respective zones in order to increase the pool of the players for a good and competitive selection for the national competitions. In order to select the best players who can participate in various national and international level competitions, such a decision was taken and that is why opportunities have been given to both male and female players. In the end the guests cut the ribbon and officially inaugurated three different games – Netball, Volleyball, and Handball. The events would continue for four-day and the grand presentation ceremony would be organized after the completion of all the male and female sporting events, Arsahd Hussain said.