Cycling Championship May 1-3 in Lahore.
“It was the first time … that any foreign team participated in the event, and it will be a message for other teams to come to Pakistan as it is a sports loving and secure country,” Idrees Haider Khawaja, Secretary OF THE Pakistan Cycling Federation, told Central Asia Online.
Some men’s sports teams have avoided competing in Pakistan since a deadly attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in March 2009.
Idrees said the Afghan women gave him hope for broader international competition in the race.
“The Afghan cyclists have encouraged us to organiSe more international events in near future,” Idrees said. “We are planning the South Asia Women Cycling Championship and will invite all (regional) countries to send their teams to participate in the event.”
The Afghan team, four Pakistani provincial teams (Sindh, Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa AND Punjab) and department teams from the police, Higher Education Commission (HEC) and Pakistan Railways participated in the three-day event.
![Maryum Siddique leads the Afghan team during a practice session for the National Women’s Cycling Championship in Lahore, Pakistan, May 2. Pakistan Railways won the championship. [Abdul Nasir Khan]](http://www.centralasiaonline.com/shared/images/2012/05/04/pakcycle.jpg)
Maryum Siddique leads the Afghan team during a practice session for the National Women’s Cycling Championship in Lahore, Pakistan, May 2. Pakistan Railways won the championship. [Abdul Nasir Khan]
Some men’s sports teams have avoided competing in Pakistan since a deadly attack on the Sri Lankan cricket team in March 2009.
Idrees said the Afghan women gave him hope for broader international competition in the race.
“The Afghan cyclists have encouraged us to organiSe more international events in near future,” Idrees said. “We are planning the South Asia Women Cycling Championship and will invite all (regional) countries to send their teams to participate in the event.”
The Afghan team, four Pakistani provincial teams (Sindh, Balochistan, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa AND Punjab) and department teams from the police, Higher Education Commission (HEC) and Pakistan Railways participated in the three-day event.
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