[sport] Sports suffer fresh cancellations following spike in Covid-19 cases

[-Kenzo]

A number of sports events across the country were postponed on Monday after the Government of Punjab imposed fresh lockdowns in certain cities due to a sharp spike in Covid-19 cases over the past week, The News reported. 

The Pakistan Hockey Federation has closed the training camp of Pakistan senior hockey team in Lahore. 

Various inter-university sports competitions, which were to be held in Punjab, have been postponed. 

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Inter-university girls badminton competitions, to be held at Karachi University, have also been postponed, as teams from universities in various parts of the country could not come to Karachi.

The Inter University Athletic Championships for boys and girls, to be organised in Islamabad and Sargodha, respectively, have been postponed. 

No next date has been announced. 

The National Junior Athletics Championship, scheduled to be held in Peshawar later this month or early April, is also likely to be postponed .

Sports complexes and gymnasiums have been closed in Punjab, which has deprived a number of athletes training facilities. 

Sources mentioned that Ramadan would begin from the second week of April. Thus, it is believed that both national senior and junior athletics championships would be organised after Ramadan, they said.