Islamabad, Oct 5 (IANS) The enthusiastic response for Pakistan’s contingent at the Commonwealth Games’ opening ceremony was not unexpected for tennis star Aqeel Khan, a media report said Tuesday.
‘I had an inkling we would get such a response,’ he said, a report in the Urdu daily Jang said.
As the 76-member Pakistan contingent led by chef de mission Muhammad Ali Shah entered the stadium, a packed-to-capacity audience greeted it with loud cheers and a standing ovation Sunday evening.
Khan, Pakistan’s No. 2 ranked tennis player below Aisam-ul-Haq Qureshi, said he had already told the team captain that they would get a warm welcome, because he had experienced a similar response whenever he came to India to play.
For Mohammad Khalid, who is on his first trip to India as manager of the tennis team, the welcome demonstrated that there is great love between the people of both the countries.
On the other hand, the report said that when the stadium erupted in cheers on the Pakistani team’s entrance, two security guards ‘armed with fearsome rifles’ suddenly said that there is ‘great love between neighbours but also great enmity’.
