In midst of the excitement and fervor following the Olympic Games Rio 2016, the Aga Khan University Sports Society kicked off its augural Sports Olympiad, on Saturday, August 20, 2016, at the AKU Sports and Rehabilitation Centre (SRC) to celebrate the spirit of true sportsmanship which reveres struggle over triumph. The Olympiad provided a platform for participants to test their capabilities and gave them an opportunity to display their talents.
Close to 400 diverse individuals from seventeen ins
titutions and universities in Karachi participated in the seven different sporting events which included squash, tennis, badminton, futsal, volleyball, basketball and table tennis, for male and female students. The events offered them an opportunity to bond and reconnect with fellow students and friends, while competing, learning, achieving, and gaining a host of wonderful memories in the process.
As part of the festivities, the Olympiad athletes were treated to an evening of live music from AKUSTICS, delicious food, and entertainment with comedienne, Shehzad Ghias, at the Pavilion (Tea garden), on the second day of the event. Ghias’ live stand-up routine included his humorous takes on everyday matters like Pakistani advertisements, popular song lyrics and the struggles of carving your own path and thriving in the face of social pressures, leaving everyone in the audiences in stitches of laughter.
The five-day event culminated in an Awards evening honouring the winners and participants, on Wednesday, August 24, 2016. Winning athletes from the various sporting events hailed from the Institute of Business Administration (women’s and men’s table tennis, women’s badminton), Nixor College (men’s badminton and tennis), Dow International Medical College (men’s basketball), National University of Science & Technology (men’s futsal), Baqai Medical University (men’s squash) and hosts, Aga Khan University (women’s basketball, men’s volleyball).
The other participating institutions and universities included Bahria University, Baqai Institute of Information Technology, Dow University of Health Sciences, Generation’s School, Hamdard University, Jinnah Sindh Medical University, Liaquat College of Medicine & Dentistry, Liaquat National Medical College, Pakistan Navy Engineering College, Sir Syed University of Engineering & Technology and Ziauddin University.
With regards to their experience in organizing the event, Co-Conveners-Shehryar Ahmad, Fatimah Sajjad, and Qasim Mehdi shared, “Through the Olympiad, we brought together all of the best athletes across Karachi to celebrate diversity and sportsmanship, united by our passion for the games. Our sincere thanks to our overwhelmingly enthusiastic team for backing us up and working night and day to make the dream of the Sports Olympiad, a reality at our phenomenal Sports and Rehabilitation Centre.”
Tournament Round-up by Qasim Mehdi, MBBS Class of 2018
The Futsal Tournament was dominated by Nixor College’s impressive run to the final, with the teenagers showing that age is truly just a number when it comes to matters on the futsal court. However the ‘Sharks’ came up against a highly organized NUST side, who won 2-1 in a high intensity final. NUST’s #7, Muneeb Khan with his 12 goals was declared the MVP of the tournament.
Men’s Basketball was won by DIMC who won 35-25 against IBA, with Shaad Rizvi from the winners receiving the MVP award. AKU’s Women’s Basketball Team fared much better than their male counterparts as they went all the way, winning the final comfortably with a score of 35-10 against DIMC. Lubaina Ehsan from the AKU MBBS Class of 2018 received the MVP award.
The final of Men’s Volleyball was contested between AKU and DUHS with AKU prevailing in straight sets. AKU SONAM Class of 2016’s Amin Ullah was given the MVP award.
Nixor College and IBA dominated the racquet sports with IBA taking home the Men’s Table Tennis, Women’s Table Tennis and Women’s Badminton trophies, winning against Nixor College and AKU’s Women’s Table Tennis and Badminton teams respectively. Nixor College won the Men’s Badminton and Tennis finals against IBA and AKU respectively. Baqai Medical University’s All Star Team sailed through the Squash Tournament on their way to the title.
