BERGEN: Pakistanis residing in Norway have successfully promoted the tent pegging sport in the country, with their refforts taking the team to the World Cup to be held in the United Arab Emirates.
The team qualified for the Tent Pegging World Cup, to be held in Abu Dhabi in September, after winning in the World Cup Qualifying Tournament in Dammam, Saudi Arabia this month.
The team was led by Dr Mamoon Akram Gondal who says he inherited sport from his family.
Gondal started promoting tent pegging in Norway in 2013 by arranging matches in different cities like Oslo, Trondheim and Bergen in the last five year. Member of the Norwegian Tent Pegging Federation, Gondal says the club has over 40 members as youth continue to take interest in the sport.
Akram, who is a physician by profession, said he started playing the sport at age 12, and he and his brother Zubair Akram are the fourth generation in his family to play tent pegging.
His father Akram Gondal migrated from the Bauth village of district Mandi Bahauddin in the 1970s taking his love for tent pegging to new his new home.
Akram says he is the first Norwegian-Pakistani who started playing tent pegging and own his own horse for the purpose. The Norwegian tent pegging team has so far not only played inside the country but also in countries including Germany, Saudi Arabia, Oman and Sudan.
Talking to Geo News about the contribution of Pakistanis to the country, Secretary Information of Pakistan Union Norway Malik Pervez Mehr said that the Pakistani community prides itself on players who not only introduced tent pegging in the country but also played important role in bringing the team to the world cup.
