Daily Times

LAHORE: The 22nd edition of the Commonwealth Games rolls into action at Alexander Stadium in Birmingham, England on Thursday (July 28). England is hosting the Commonwealth Games for the third time after London 1934 and Manchester 2002. And this is the seventh edition in the United Kingdom: Cardiff 1958, Edinburgh 1970 and 1986, and Glasgow 2014. Birmingham was confirmed as the host of the 2022 Commonwealth Games in 2017. The Games were originally awarded to Durban in 2015, but the South African city had the event taken away earlier for financial reasons. Commonwealth Games is the quadrennial multi-sport event and open to countries that are members of the Commonwealth, a collection of nations and territories that were mainly once part of the British Empire. Pakistan will be represented by a 104-member contingent — 68 athletes and 36 officials — at the Birmingham Games. Pakistan athletes are set to compete across 13 sports: hockey, cricket, gymnastics, squash, shooting, athletics, swimming, badminton, table tennis, boxing, wrestling, weightlifting and para athletics.

Vibrant city Birmingham: One of the youngest cities in Europe, Birmingham is vibrant and richly diverse. It is well known for always offering a warm welcome to visitors from around the world. According to organisers, the Birmingham 2022 Commonwealth Games will demonstrate the very best of Global Britain to the world, showcasing the region’s strengths of: being connected and accessible; youth and inclusivity; and a focus on regeneration and rejuvenation. “Birmingham is truly the Commonwealth’s city, and we look forward to showcasing its humanity and pride,” maintains the organisers.

History of Commonwealth Games: Held every four years, attendance at the Commonwealth Games is typically around 5,000 athletes. The first such event, then known as the British Empire Games, was held in 1930. The name changed to the British Empire and Commonwealth Games in 1954, to the British Commonwealth Games in 1970 and assumed the current name of the Commonwealth Games in 1978. There are currently 54 members of the Commonwealth of Nations and 71 teams participate in the Commonwealth Games. The four constituent countries of the United Kingdom — England, Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland — send separate teams to the Commonwealth Games, and individual teams are also send from the British Crown Dependencies — Guernsey, Jersey and the Isle of Man — and many of the British overseas territories. Only six teams have attended every Commonwealth Games: Australia, Canada, England, New Zealand, Scotland and Wales.

Pakistan history at Commonwealth Games: Pakistan joined the Commonwealth in 1947 and re-entered it again in 1989 after leaving the fold in 1972. Pakistan made their debut in the 1954 Games and were ever present up to the 1970 Games in Edinburgh. After a 20-year absence, Pakistan returned to the Games Family in 1990 by competing in Auckland and since then they have enjoyed uninterrupted participation. Pakistan’s most successful Games have been the 1962 Commonwealth Games in Perth, Australia where they were 4th in overall rankings and won 08 gold medals. Pakistan’s most successful event has been wrestling, in which they won 42 medals, 21 of those have been gold. Pakistan’s ranking is third overall in wrestling at the Commonwealth Games. In all, Pakistan have racked up 25 gold, 24 silver and 26 bronze medals (total 75) since making their Commonwealth Games debut.

Vancouver 1954: At the their debut event in 1954 in Vancouver, Canada, Pakistan won one gold, one silver and one bronze in athletics and two silver and one bronze medal in wrestling. In athletics Mohammad Iqbal clinched gold in hammer throw, Mohammad Nawaz captured silver in javelin throw and Jalal Khan got bronze in javelin throw. In wrestling, Mohammad Amin (57kg) and Abdul Rashid (74kg) claimed silver medals and Din Mohammad got bronze in 52kg.

Cardiff 1958: At the 1958 Cardiff Games in United Kingdom, Pakistan got two silver and two bronze in athletics and three gold and three silver in wrestling. Javelin thrower Jalal Khan and hammer thrower Mohammad Iqbal claimed silver medals while 110m hurdler Ghulam Raziq and long jumper Ramzan Ali captured bronze. Wrestlers Mohammad Ashraf (68kg), Mohammad Akhtar (57kg) and Mohammad Bashir (74kg) claimed gold. Shujauddin (52kg), Siraj Din (62kg) and Ali Mohammad (90kg) got silver.

Perth 1962: In the 1962 Perth Games in Australia, Pakistan wrestlers swept the event by collecting all seven gold and one silver while the other gold the nation got in the slots was in athletics as Ghulam Raziq won 110m hurdles race. The wrestlers who got gold were: Siraj Din (57kg), Niaz Mohammad (100kg), Alauddin (62kg), Mohammad Akhtar (68kg), Mohammad Bashir (72kg), Faiz Mohammad (82kg) and Mohammad Niaz (52kg). Mohammad Saeed (90kg) claimed wrestling silver.

1966 Kingston: In the 1966 Kingston Games in Jamaica, Pakistan captured four gold, one silver and one bronze in wrestling and three bronze in athletics. Wrestlers Mohammad Nazir (52kg), Mohammad Akhtar (62kg), Mohammad Bashir (74kg) and Mohammad Faiz (82kg) clinched gold, Ikram Elahi got silver in 100kg and Mohammad Saeed captured bronze in 57kg. Javelin thrower Mohammad Nawaz, 110m hurdler Ghulam Raziq and hammer thrower Mohammad Iqbal claimed bronze.

1970 Edinburgh: In the 1970 Edinburgh Games in United Kingdom, Pakistan got four gold, two silver and two bronze in wrestling, one silver in weightlifting and one bronze in boxing. Grapplers Sardar Mohammad (47kg), Mohammad Saeed (62kg), Faiz Mohammad (90kg), Ibrahim Elahi (100kg and plus) got gold, Nazir Mohammad (52kg) and Mohammad Yaqoob (68kg) captured silver while Sadiq Masih (48kg) and Mohammad Riaz (100kg) claimed bronze. Abdul Ghafoor (52kg) got weightlifting silver and Samad Mir (57kg) clinched boxing bronze.

No participation from 1974 to 1990: From 1974 till 1990, Pakistan did not feature in the Commonwealth Games.

1994 Victoria: Pakistan resumed their journey in the Commonwealth Games with participation in the 1994 Victoria Games in Canada where national boxer Arshad Hussain (60kg) got bronze and wrestlers Mohammad Umar (68kg) and Bashir Bhola Bhala (82kg) claimed bronze.

1998 Kuala Lumpur: In the 1998 Kuala Lumpur Games in Malaysia, boxer Haider Ali (60kg) claimed the lone silver for Pakistan.

Manchester 2002: At the 2002 Manchester Games in England, Pakistan got one gold in boxing, two bronze in shooting, three silver in weightlifting and one bronze each in hockey and wrestling. The boxing gold was won by Haider Ali (57kg). Pakistan got their first bronze in hockey as the discipline was first included in the 1998 Kuala Lumpur edition. Shooter Irshad Ali got bronze in centre fire pistol while Irshad and Zahid Ali captured the other shooting bronze in centre fire pistol pairs’ event. Mohammad Irfan got three silver medals in weightlifting.

Melbourne 2006: At the 2006 Melbourne Games in Australia, Pakistan got one gold, three silver and one bronze. Weightlifter Shujauddin Malik got gold in 85kg while Pakistan hockey team finished with silver medal and the other silver was captured by shooter Irshad Ali in 25m standard pistol. Boxer Mehrullah won silver in 57kg while Mohammad Irfan got bronze in 76kg weightlifting event.

2010 New Delhi: At the 2010 New Delhi Games in India, Pakistan got two gold and one silver in wrestling and two bronze in boxing. Wrestlers Azhar Hussain (55kg) and Mohammad Inam (84kg) got gold in freestyle wrestling while Azhar Hussain also claimed silver in Greco-Roman style wrestling. Boxers Mohammad Waseem (49kg) and England-born Haroon Khan (52kg) picked bronze in their respective weights.

2014 Glasgow: At the 2014 Glasgow Games in United Kingdom, boxer Mohammad Waseem (52kg), Japan-based judoka Shah Hussain Shah (-100kg) and wrestler Qamar Abbas (74kg) got silver while Azhar Hussain claimed wrestling bronze in 57kg freestyle.

2018 Gold Coast: At the 2018 Gold Coast Games in Australia, Pakistan won gold in wrestling through Muhammad Inam in 86kg category and two bronze through wrestlers Tayyab Raza (125kg) and Muhammad Bilal (57kg). Weightlifters Muhammad Nooh Dastgir Butt (+105kg) and Talha Talib (62kg) won bronze in their respective categories.

Pakistan’s prospects at Birmingham Commonwealth Games 2022: In the last Commonwealth Games in Gold Coast, Australia in 2018, Pakistan’s performance was not up to the mark. Pakistan didn’t perform well in the quadrennial event in which an 87-member contingent took part in ten disciplines. They won just one gold in wrestling and four bronze medals in wrestling and weightlifting. However, this time it is expected that Pakistan will win more medals in the quadrennial event to be held in Birmingham from July 28 to August 8. It is pertinent to mention that despite the Pakistan Sports Board reducing the strength of the national contingent citing financial constraints, just two weeks before the start of the Games, the Pakistan Olympic Association made it clear that there would be no reduction in the contingent. Hats off to the POA which made all the arrangements so that all the 104-mamber contingent could reach Birmingham. It is interesting to note that once a final athletes list is shared with the organisers, it cannot be retrieved. The POA had taken an undertaking from the competing national sports federations to ensure participation of their athletes even if the government withdraws support at the eleventh hour. The entire Pakistan 104-member contingent will compete in the Games. Once the size of the contingent is confirmed to the organisers, withdrawing at the last minute or even curtailing the size of the contingent is not possible
as it could create future problems for the country.

It will be a tough event for Pakistan’s hockey team who recently failed to make it to the World Cup. Yes, the team have been showing signs of improvement during the last few months under a Dutch coach and hopefully the brigade will offer tough resistance against the opponents. Pakistan’s record in the Commonwealth Games hockey event is not impressive. After hockey was included in the Games in 1998, Pakistan were able to win bronze in 2002 at Manchester, followed by silver in the 2006 edition staged at Melbourne. For this year’s edition featuring teams from 10 hockey-playing nations, Pakistan are placed in Pool A alongside Australia, New Zealand, South Africa and Scotland. Pool B comprises India, England, Canada, Wales and Ghana.

At the Birmingham Games, in some areas, Pakistan’s chances have already been dented like in weightlifting in which our potential medal hope Talha Talib will not be there as he is expected to face sanctions because of doping. Talha could have fought for gold had he been there. But still we expect something stunning from weightlifters Nooh Dastgir Butt, Hanzala Dastgir and Haider Ali. Nooh, a heavyweight weightlifter, is a big hope as he has the potential to do something amazing for the country. He won bronze in the 2018 edition in Gold Coast but his career later has since been dogged by injuries.

Last time in Gold Coast premier javelin thrower Arshad Nadeem could not click due to a back injury. If he clicks there then he certainly will be a big medal hope in Birmingham. Arshad, no doubt, is a fine athlete, having finished fifth in the Tokyo Olympics. Wrestling is the discipline where we can win a few medals. In Gold Coast, premier wrestler Mohammad Inam Butt won gold while Tayyab Raza and Mohammad Bilal clinched bronze.

Judo was not there in the last Commonwealth Games but this time it will be there and Pakistan are fielding their two major fighters, two-time Olympian Shah Hussain Shah and Qaiser Afridi who has also got a handful of medals in Asia at the junior level. Shah won silver in the 2014 Glasgow Commonwealth Games. Qaiser will make his Commonwealth Games debut. In boxing we will have to work very hard. Last time we claimed a medal in this discipline was in the 2014 Glasgow edition when the now professional fighter Mohammad Waseem snared a silver when he was beaten by Andrew Moloney of Australia in the final.

The Birmingham event will be a testing time for the Pakistan’s women cricket team, too, under left-handed batswoman Bismah Maroof. This is the first time women’s cricket event has been included in the Commonwealth Games and Pakistan are one of the seven sides, who have qualified directly. England, being the host nation, have progressed automatically, while the other six sides, as per their T20I rankings, are: Australia, India, New Zealand, South Africa, West Indies and Pakistan. Pakistan women’s cricket team previously featured in two Asian Games, winning gold in Guangzhou, China, in 2010 and in Incheon, South Korea, in 2014. In squash, badminton, swimming, table tennis and gymnastics, there is not much hope. Pakistan will also feature in the Birmingham event in para-athletics and para-table tennis.