Pakistani athletes will kick off quest to win medals at Commonwealth Games on Friday

• Pakistani athletes will be up for action in six different sports for initial contests.
• Pakistan has sent a contingent of 103 members to Birmingham, UK.
• Mohammad Afzal to be first athlete who will show his skills in qualifying stage of individual gymnastics.

Pakistani athletes will formally kick off their quest to win medals for the country in Commonwealth Games Birmingham on Friday when they’ll be up for action in six different sports for initial contests.

Pakistan has sent a contingent of 103 members to Birmingham who will participate in 13 different sports including para-athletics.

The first athlete from Pakistan to be in action on Friday will be Mohammad Afzal who will show his skills in the qualifying stage of the individual gymnastics competition.

All four swimmers — Bismah Khan, Mishael Ayub, Jehanara Nabi and Haseeb Tariq — will have their heats in the afternoon.

Jehanara will be in action at 3:05pm for the heats of women’s 200m. At 3:25, Haseeb will jump in the pool for 50m butterfly heats whereas Mishael will be in action for women’s 50m breaststroke heats at 3:39pm. Bisma has her heats scheduled at 4:04pm, she will be in action for the women’s 100m butterfly.

If these swimmers manage to qualify for the next stage, they’ll be up for action in the evening session as well which will start at 10:00pm PKT.

Pakistani boxer Suleiman Khan, who is in the men’s 60kg to 63.5kg category, will face off India’s Shiva Thapa at around 4:30pm Pakistan time in his round of 32 contest.

Another Indo-Pak contest on Friday will be in Badminton’s mixed double which will start at 6:00pm Pakistan time.

Later in the night, Pakistan women's cricket team will play its opening match of the event against Barbados – the game is scheduled to begin at 10:00pm.

In Squash, Pakistan’s Nasir Iqbal will face Jamaica’s Julian Morrison in the men’s single round of 64 at 10:00pm at night.