History and overview of Bodybuilding in Pakistan
Bodybuilding among the males is a dominant sport. Physical fitness and strong physique has always been admired by everybody all over the world.
In 1948, the health movement was started in Pakistan at Bagh-e-Jinnah, Lahore. Youth responded to it in a very good and positive way and various clubs then were formed at different locations within the city, until the first competition took place in 1952,
Lahore. Soon after it a competition for Mr. Punjab was held at the Standard Hotel Restaurant, Mall Road, Lahore. It was won by Mr. Muhammad Namudoo, world champion in bodybuilding and weight lifting.
Pakistan Amateur Bodybuilding Association (PABBA) was formed in 1952 and the Mr. Justice M. A. Soofi was made as the first president for the bodybuilding in Pakistan.
The first ever contest for the Mr. Pakistan was held at the Burt Institute, Lahore. Miss. Joan Hunt (Miss. Britain 1952) was invited for the second Mr. Pakistan contest held at the Punjab University in which competitors from various cities like Lahore, Rawalpindi,
Karachi, Quetta and Dhaka participated.
4th competition for the Mr. Pakistan was held on December 18, 1955 under observation of A. M. Jan, president, PABBA. It proved as one Grand show as there were 55 competitors who had taken place from all over the country for the
title and all of them were in their top forms, well defined and muscular.
By this time the affiliated organisations with the Pakistan Amateur Bodybuilding Association were also formed and were conducting the contests on district and provincial level regularly, holding their own titles.
In 1956, to encourage the youngsters the contest for Mr. Pakistan and Junior Mr. Pakistan was introduced and since then it was conducted on regular basis annually. The 15th annual competition for Mr. Pakistan was conducted
by Northern Amateur Bodybuilders Association at Peshawar and the 17th one
was held by the Capital Zone Amateur Bodybuilders Association, Rawalpindi on November 24, 1967.
This way the sport of bodybuilding was originated in Pakistan and since then many good bodybuilders have come up as of yet from the country.
Syed Fazal Elahi, Yahya Butt, Masoom Butt, Shoaib Zahoor, Baber Ali, Atif Ahmed Anwar, Imran Qureshi, Khalid Ali, Azhar Zafar and Aamir are a few names which are known well by the people.
The competition for Mr. Pakistan 2010 was won by Syed Fazal Elahi.
Yahya Butt of Pakistan has brought many titles to his country, holds many titles at the Asian and Pakistan’s Olympic level, including 4 times participation in the Mr. Universe contest. On the other side, Masoom Butt has performed well in the field and has
also won many titles for his country.
The 17th South Asian men’s bodybuilding competition which was held in 2010, Katmandu, Nepal, was won by Azhar Zafar of Pakistan. The competition was organised by the Nepal’s Bodybuilding and Fitness Association. He has
completed many world titles but this was the first time he has been announced for the number one place at the competition.
Atif Ahmed Anwar of Pakistan was ranked 4th in the World Amateur Bodybuilding Contest held in U.A.E and Shoaib Zahoor who has also won many Asian level bodybuilding contest, won the Muscle Mania Contest.
Bodybuilding in Pakistan can be continued at an even better pace, if the sportsmen are properly encouraged and supported by the government.
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