Pak team leaves tomorrow to feature in Asian Men’s Volleyball

KARACHI: Eyeing a graceful finish, Pakistan volleyball team will leave for Tehran on Wednesday (tomorrow) to feature in the Asian Men’s Volleyball Championships, scheduled to be hosted by Iran in its capital from September 13 to 21.

The team will be led by Aimal Khan. He will skipper the elite squad for the first time at the senior level. In the last Asian Championship a couple of years ago, the team was led by Naseer Ahmed, who announced retirement a few months ago.

Despite having given no pre-competition tour to the side, a PVF senior official said that the team had trained well. “The team has prepared well,” PVF secretary Shah Naeem Zafar told ‘The News’ here on Monday.

As many as 16 nations are set to feature in the Asian Championships in Tehran. Pakistan have been clubbed in Group D with four-time champions South Korea, last edition’s No4 side Indonesia and Kuwait.

Iran, Australia, Qatar and Sri Lanka form Group A. Japan, Chinese Taipei, Thailand and Hong Kong are in Group B. Kazakhstan, China, Oman and India have been bracketed in Group C.

Pakistan will begin their journey with their fixture against South Korea on September 13. They will play against Indonesia on September 14 and Kuwait on September 15.

Squad: Aimal Khan (captain), Asif, Kashif, Mubashir, Fakhar, Sheraz, Idrees, Bilal Khan, Nasir, Zaheer, Haider, Usman Faryad, Murad Jehan

Officials: Sohail Tajik (manager), Kim Kyoung Hoon (head coach), Saeed Ahmed (assistant coach), Fazal Ahmed (assistant coach), Akbar Ali (trainer), Ubaidullah Shah (referee).