Pakistani society greatly values its sporting traditions. While cricket dominates the sporting landscape in Pakistan, other popular sports include field hockey, polo, and squash.

Sports fans can also enjoy more familiar classics like kabaddi and other popular games.

In 1962, the Pakistani Ministry of Education was established.

The Pakistan Sports Board is a corporate body with the goals of regulating and controlling sports on a national level and promoting and developing uniform standards of competition in sports in Pakistan

That is on par with those prevailing internationally. The Pakistan Sports Board is now under the direct supervision of the Ministry of Culture, Sports, and Tourism.

All 39 sports federations fall under the PSB’s sphere of influence. Supported by the Pakistan Sports Trust, the Pakistan Sports Board provides financial aid to financially struggling athletes and sports organizations.

There has been a rise in sports participation by Pakistani athletes in recent years, both at the national and international levels.

And nowadays, Pakistan hosts a growing number of international competitions.

Pakistan’s participation in international competitions like the Olympics.

Asian Games, World Games, and Commonwealth Games, as well as the size of the teams sending athletes to these events, has grown significantly since the turn of the century.

Top 10 sports in Pakistan

Pakistan’s sporting heritage is deep and varied. Various sports in Pakistan have experienced both heydays and declines in popularity over the course of time.

Although fashions come and go, the Pakistani people’s devotion to sports has remained constant throughout the years.

The ten most popular sports in Pakistan are as follows

Cricket

Cricket

The history of cricket in Pakistan predates the creation of the country in 1947.

The first international cricket match in what is Pakistan today was held in Karachi on 22 November 1935 between Sind and Australia.

The match was seen by 5,000 Karachiites.

Cricket was introduced by the British during their colonial rule of British India, which covered the area now known as Pakistan.

Cricket is the most popular sport in the country.

The Pakistan Cricket Board controls all domestic cricket in Pakistan and the national teams.

Pakistan is an official member of the International Cricket Council and the Asian Cricket Council.

Pakistan has won the Cricket World Cup in 1992,

ICC T20 World Cup in 2009, the ICC Champions Trophy in 2017, the ICC Under-19 Cricket World Cup in 2004 and 2006, the ACC Asia Cup in 2000 and 2012, and the ICC Test Championship in 2016.

Football

Football

The Pakistan Football Federation is in charge of the Pakistan national football team and represents Pakistani football in all official FIFA competitions.

Pakistan joined the Asian Football Confederation and FIFA in 1948, and its national team made its debut in 1950.

Biannually, Pakistan competes in the South Asian Football Federation Championship and the South Asian Games.

Four times (1989, 1991, 2004, and 2006) the Pakistani football team has taken home the gold medal at the South Asian Games.

When it comes to international competitions, Pakistan has never even made it out of the South Asian region.

Due in large part to cricket’s dominance in South Asia, football has had a hard time gaining traction in

Pakistan. Pakistan is the only Asian team without a FIFA World Cup qualifying victory as of 2020.

Snooker

Snooker

Snooker in Pakistan is making waves around the world. The constant influx of new talent and expertise bodes well for its future.

It is a lone star in the increasingly bleak landscape of Pakistani athletics. Snooker’s success stands out in a decade where Pakistan’s sports scene has seen a precipitous decline.

Over the past few years, snooker in Pakistan has flourished, gaining a solid reputation as a popular amateur sport.

The first National Snooker Championship was held in 1960, and the Pakistan Billiards and Snooker Association didn’t come into existence until 1958.

The 2nd International Billiards and Snooker Federation (IBSF) or World Amateur Snooker Championships were held in Karachi, Pakistan, in 1966, marking a turning point in Pakistan’s snooker odyssey.

Hamid Karim represented Pakistan as its cueist, but it wouldn’t be until 1982, when Tanveer Dada was playing in the tournament in Calgary, Canada, that the country would send another player.

Karachi hosted the IBSF World Snooker Championship once again in 1993, and the ACBS, or Asian Confederation of Billiard Sports, also held its first Asian Under-21 Snooker Championships that year.

Table Tennis

Table Tennis

In 1963, the Pakistani table tennis team returned home from the Far East Championship and landed at the Karachi airport.

Michael Rodrigues, Farooq Zaman, Ashraf Malik, Mazhar Qureishi, and Shahid Iqbal report to manager Majeed Khan.

This photograph is from the Anwer Zuberi collection and was reproduced by Fahim Siddiqui/White star.

The Islamia Club’s 30-by-60-foot arena has spawned multiple professional athletes.

Image from the collection of Anwer Zuberi; photo reprinted with permission of Fahim Siddiqui/White Star.

Participants from Pakistan in the 1984 edition of the Seventh Asian Table Tennis Championship, which took place in Islamabad.

Mr. Sanaullah, the team manager, is in the middle, with the Chinese coaches on either side.

As they returned from the Far East Championship.

In 1963, the Pakistan table tennis team was captured in this image from the Anwer Zuberi collection (reproduced by Fahim Siddiqui/White star).

Next in line for management after Majeed Khan are Michael Rodrigues, Farooq Zaman, Ashraf malik, Mazhar Qureishi, and Shahid Iqbal.

Several international players got their start in the Islamia Club’s 30 x 60-foot hall (photo by Anwer Zuberi collection, reproduced by Fahim Siddiqui/White star).

Photograph from the Anwer Zuberi collection (reproduced by Fahim Siddiqui/White star).
One must see to believe.

Historically, Pakistan’s table tennis teams made more international appearances than the country’s hockey team did.

The results were visible as well, as Pakistan finished in sixth place in the men’s team event for the first time ever in 1984 and again in 1990 at the Asian Championships.

Badminton

Badminton

An annual badminton tournament, the Pakistan International is hosted by the Pakistan Badminton Federation.

In 2004, the International Badminton Federation gave an “A” rating to the tournament known as Pakistan.

Satellite, meaning that its results would count toward official world rankings.

It was also a chance for Pakistani athletes to test their mettle against international competition.

Squash

Squash

Prior to the middle of the 20th century, squash was hardly played as a sport at all.

The British Open was the only annual international squash tournament until India’s involvement.

Coinciding with Pakistan’s birth as a sovereign nation.

The winner of this event was crowned world champion. For over four decades, Pakistan has dominated the sport of squash internationally.

It was in the early 1970s that the Pakistan Squash Federation was officially incorporated into the Pakistan Air Force, and it was in the early 1980s that the Asian Squash Federation was established.

Since that time, the PAF’s efforts to grow the sport of squash across the country have been invaluable.

Following Great Hashim Khan’s trip from PAF Base Peshawar to England, the Asian Squash Federation was formed.

Mr. Hashim Khan, a lowly ball picker at the PAF Officers’ Mess in Peshawar, had the lofty goal of becoming a world champion and was determined to make it happen.

Mr. Hashim Khan, out of a field of 32, won the first-ever Pakistan Professional Squash Championship in 1949 at Kakul.

The event was watched by Commandant PMA Kakul (Brig Ingall), who was impressed by Hashim’s aggressive play and thought he could compete successfully in the British Open.

In 1951, at the age of 37, Mr. Hashim Khan arrived in London on a chartered PAF plane thanks to the efforts of the then-Air Force Chief, who was impressed by Khan’s polished performance.

Given his modest upbringing and limited financial resources, the young PAF officers pitched in to help him take part.

Hashim Khan, on his first trip outside of Pakistan, triumphed at the British Open in England.

His streak of British Open victories stretched all the way through 1956 and 1958.

Along for the ride were boxing greats such as Azam Khan, Roshan Khan, Mohibullah (Snr), Qamar Zaman, Jahangir Khan, and the invincible Jansher Khan, who followed Mr. Roshan Khan as World Champion in 1957.

Hockey

Hockey

Field hockey, like cricket, quickly gained widespread popularity in Pakistan after being introduced there during the British Raj.

After Pakistan gained its independence in 1947, the Pakistan Hockey Federation was formed the following year, in 1948.

Before this, players from the territory that is now Pakistan competed internationally alongside players from the territory that is now India.

Punjab, Sindh, Balochistan, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Bahawalpur, East Bengal, and the Pakistani Armed Forces Sports Board were the founding members of the Federation.

Pakistan’s first-ever international match was a 2-1 victory over Belgium at the 1948 Summer Olympics in London on August 2.

Ghazanfar Ali Khan served as the foundation’s first president, and Baseer Ali Sheikh was its honorary secretary.

Soon after, the Pakistan national team gained a solid reputation on the international stage, which kept the sport’s popularity high in Pakistan and boosted the Federation’s development.

Before the 1960s, however, there was no permanent headquarters or secretariat.

In 1971, the National Hockey Stadium in Pakistan was transformed into the secretariat for the Pakistan Hockey Federation.

Starting in 1978, during Air Marshal Nur Khan’s second term as president, Pakistani hockey experienced its golden age.

The national senior, junior, and women’s hockey teams were all abroad for international competition.

Air Marshal M. Nur Khan was instrumental in establishing the FIH’s World Cup and Champions Trophy, two of the sport’s most prestigious international competitions.

However, artificial turf was first used in an Olympic hockey tournament at the 1976 Montreal Games.

The national team’s strength gradually declined as Pakistan lagged behind European rivals in the construction of artificial turf pitches.

Tennis

Tennis

The purpose of the Pakistan Tennis Federation (PTF) is to foster the growth and popularity of tennis in Pakistan.

The PTF is a member of the ITF and the FTAF (Federation of Asian Tennis Associations) (ATF).

After Pakistan gained its independence in 1947, a group calling itself the “All Pakistan Lawn Tennis Association” was established to foster and expand the sport.

With Mr. Iftikhar Ahmed and Mr. Mehmood Alam at the helm, Pakistan made its Davis Cup debut against Switzerland in May 1948.

The Association’s name was changed to the “Pakistan Tennis Federation” later on.

Khawaja Saeed Hai was the first Pakistani to play for Pakistan at Wimbledon, the US Open, and the French Open.

At present, Mr. Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi is a legend of Tennis for making history by competing in the finals of the Men’s Doubles and Mixed Doubles events at the 2010 US Open.

Boxing

Boxing

Pakistan’s national governing body for boxing is the Pakistan Boxing Federation (PBF).

The PBF is affiliated with both the International Amateur Boxing Association (AIBA) and the Asian Amateur Boxing Federation (FABF) (FAAB).

Boxing has been a part of Pakistani culture for as long as the country has existed.

The initial Pakistani national boxing championship was held in Karachi in 1948.

Pakistan has made gradual but steady improvements in a handful of sports over the years, boxing being one of them.

Since the inception of the Asian Games and the Asian Boxing Championships, Pakistani boxers have consistently dominated the competition.

Volleyball

Volleyball

When it comes to volleyball, Pakistan is represented on the international stage by the men’s national team.

On January 31, 1955, the Pakistan Volleyball Federation was formed. After that, volleyball became a popular sport on a national scale.

In the same year that the Federation was officially recognized, it also became affiliated with the Pakistan Olympic Association and the International Volleyball Federation.

In the 50s and 60s, Pakistani volleyball was on par with that of the top Asian nations. In the outdoor 1962.

Asian Games held in Jakarta, Pakistan triumphed, taking home the bronze medal.

At the time, Ch Ghulam Hussain led the National Team as its coach.

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