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OLYMPICS/ Relay Cities


Islamabad stages Olympic flame relay in Sports Complex
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2008-04-16 20:48

 

During Jahangir Khan's career, he won the World Open six times and the British Open a record ten times. Between 1981 and 1986, he was unbeaten in competitive play for five years.

During that time he won 555 matches consecutively. This was not only the longest winning streak in squash history, but also one of the longest unbeaten runs by any athlete in top-level professional sport.

"Squash has been played all over the world. You can find a lot of people are playing it all over the world and China is coming along. We have seen a lot of fans from Hong Kong. I think this year will have a lot of Opens, and we have got the Beijing Open in China," said Jahangir. "Next year, it will be decided whether the sport will be included in 2016 Olympic Games. I am optimistic for the future prospect of squash."

"I am the first male squash torchbearer to carry the Olympic torch. It's a big honor for me to be the last bearer and ended the relay here," he added.

Jahangir Khan retired at the age of 29 and has been serving as the president of Squash Confederation for years.

A bulk of top Pakistani athletes were selected to carry the torch including Malike Muhammad Younus, Ghulam Abbas and Farjad Saif.

Malik Muhammad Younus, honorary captain, is a very prominent athlete in Pakistan's history. He is the national champion for consecutive 11 years in running. Younus had been representing Pakistan in 1972, 1976 Olympics and 1970, 1974 and 1978 Asian Games. He won gold medal in 1974 Asian Games, and collected silvers in the other two Asian Games. He is a national record holder of 1,500 meters and 5,000 meters for over 30 years. Younus was awarded Pride of Performance in 1990.

Ghulam Abbas won gold medal in 400 meters hurdles in Beijing Asian Games 1990. He also won two gold medals in 110 meters hurdles and 400 meters hurdles in the fourth South Asian Games in Islamabad.

Farjad Saif, a table tennis player and 13 times of national champion, was qualified for Seoul Olympics in 1988. He represented Pakistan for more than 70 times abroad.

Islamabad, the capital city of Pakistan, was completed on 26 October 1966. It is a modern and carefully planned city with wide tree-lined streets, elegant public buildings and well organized bazaars. The walk ways are shaded by rows of flame trees, jacaranda and hibiscus.

The residential areas are laid out as a series of self-contained townships, each of which have their own shopping, recreational and health facilities. The total area of Islamabad is 906 square kilometers with a population of about 700,000 and an elevation is 610 meters above sea-level.

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