WAPDA to feature in Asian Club Volleyball Championship

KARACHI: Pakistan’s top team WAPDA will participate in the Asian Club Volleyball Championship to be held at Naypyidaw, Myanmar, from July 30 to August 6.

A senior official of the Pakistan Volleyball Federation (PVF) said that the event will help some players of Pakistan to get match practice ahead of the Asian Games slated to be held in the Indonesian cities of Jakarta and Palembang from August 18 to September 2.

“Most of the players of Pakistan senior team are from WAPDA and the event will help them get some practice ahead of the Asian Games,” PVF chairman Chaudhry Mohammad Yaqoob told ‘The News’ on Monday.

He said that the participation of Pakistani club in the championship will strengthen the clubs of the country.According to details available on internet, Habib Bank Limited (HBL) had also featured in this event hosted by Pakistan in Islamabad in 2005. However, the federation said that it is not the case.

Meanwhile, Pakistan senior and junior teams are undergoing training at Pakistan Sports Complex Islamabad under Iranian coach Hamid Movahedi who recently coached the country’s youth team quite superbly at the Asian Men’s Under-18 Volleyball Championship in Tabriz, Iran.

Although Pakistan finished 11th but the brigade only lost one game in the entire event and that too against top seed South Korea.

The format of the event prevented Pakistan’s colts to wrap-up their journey at a decent place in the 17-team event.

As national senior side is to feature in the Asiad and the juniors will take part in the 19th Asian Men’s Under-20 Championship in Manama, Bahrain, it is yet to be decided who will go with the junior team as head coach.

“It’s an issue. I was thinking that Movahedi would go with the senior side but he says that he has arranged some practice matches for the juniors against Iran and other nations ahead of the July 21-28 Manama event so it was necessary for him to go with the juniors,” he said.“But we will discuss the issue and will soon decide,” said Yaqoob, also a former top police official.

In the Asian Games, Pakistan have been bracketed in Group B with Mongolia and second seed Iran. Yaqoob said his side will make it to the next stage. “We will qualify InshaAllah,” he said. “Mongolia are not that strong and we can beat them,” the official said.

In the 20-team event of the Asiad, Pakistan will begin their journey with the match against Mongolia on August 20. This will be followed by their match against Iran on August 22.In the 2014 Incheon Asian Games, Pakistan finished 11th, in 2010 they ended up at the tenth place, in 2006 Pakistan did not feature, in 1998 edition they finished ninth, in 1994 edition Pakistan ended at sixth spot and in 1990 they finished fifth.