Sabahat Sarwar
Karachi: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police emerged champions of the All Pakistan Inter-Provincial Police Hockey Tournament 2026, defeating hosts Sindh Police 3-1 in the final. The tournament was organized by the Sindh Police Sports Board in collaboration with the Karachi Hockey Association. Sindh Police finished as runner-up while Punjab Police secured third position. Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police delivered an impressive performance in the final, overcoming Sindh Police by three goals to one to lift the championship trophy.
Inspector General of Police Sindh Javed Alam Odho was the chief guest at the closing ceremony, where trophies and medals were distributed among the winning team and outstanding players. The ceremony was attended by DIG Traffic Pir Muhammad Shah, Olympian Hanif Khan, Waseem Feroze and Iftikhar Syed, Karachi Hockey Association President Imtiaz Ali Shah, former Pakistan Hockey Federation secretary Haider Hussain as well as police officials, players and a large number of spectators.
Congratulating the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Police team on their victory, the IGP Sindh also commended the Sindh Police team and the organizers for successfully staging the tournament. He said that the revival of a hockey tournament among police teams after 2013 was a welcome development, adding that Sindh Police would work to restore and strengthen its longstanding sporting traditions. “The promotion of sports is an effective means of guiding the younger generation towards healthy and positive activities,” he said.
The IGP expressed concern over declining physical activity among young people due to the increasing use of mobile phones and sedentary lifestyles. He urged the youth to take up sports observing that a healthy body provides the foundation for a healthy mind. He said sporting activities also played an important role in keeping young people away from drugs, crime and other social evils.
Announcing further initiatives, IGP Odho said Sindh Police would organize tournaments every month while a football tournament among various police forces would also be held in the coming days. He added professional coaches were being engaged to further strengthen Sindh Police sports teams with the aim of enabling talented police athletes to represent the force at national-level competitions in football, hockey, cricket, boxing and other sports.
The IGP said the scope of sporting competitions would gradually be extended beyond Karachi to other cities and districts of Sindh including the Katcha areas. Acknowledging the shortage of sporting grounds, he said efforts would be made to revive and develop playgrounds to provide greater opportunities for sports activities. He also appreciated the efforts of Sindh Police Sports Board Chairman DIG Pir Muhammad Shah for promoting sports within the police force and congratulated all members of the Sports Board on the successful tournament.
