Pakistani athletes will formally begin their bid to bring home gold for their nation at the Commonwealth Games Birmingham on Friday (today). They will compete in six different sports in their opening matches. There are 103 Pakistani athletes in Birmingham competing in 13 different sports, including para-athletics. Mohammad Afzal, who will compete in the individual gymnastics qualifying round, is the first Pakistani athlete to compete today. All four swimmers Bismah Khan, Mishael Ayub, Jehanara Nabi and Haseeb Tariq will have their heats in the afternoon. Jehanara will compete in the women’s 200-meter heats at 3:05 PM. Mishael will compete in the women’s 50m breaststroke heats at 3:39 p.m., while Haseeb will enter the pool for the 50m butterfly heats at 3:25. At 4:04 p.m., Bisma will compete in her heats for the women’s 100-meter butterfly. If these swimmers are successful in moving on to the next round, they will be available for competition in the evening session as well, which begins at 10:00 p.m. PKT. Around 4:30 PM Pakistan time, Suleiman Khan of Pakistan will compete against Shiva Thapa of India in the round of 32 in the men’s 60 kg to 63.5 kg division. Another Indo-Pak match will take place on Friday in the mixed doubles of badminton, which will begin at 6:00 PM Pakistan time. The Pakistan women’s cricket team will take on Barbados in the event’s inaugural match later that evening; kickoff is set for 10:00 p.m. In the men’s single round of 64 in squash, Pakistan’s Nasir Iqbal will take on Jamaica’s Julian Morrison at 10:00 p.m.