Eyeing gold, Pak volleyball team goes to Nepal today

KARACHI: Eyeing a gold medal, Pakistan volleyball team will fly out of Islamabad for Kathmandu on Monday night (today) to feature in the 13th South Asian Games, slated to be held in Nepal’s capital and Pokhara from December 1-10.

The volleyball event will begin from November 27 and that is why the volleyballers are the first to leave for Nepal.

Aimal Khan will lead the side which is expected to pull off desired results despite having got no substantial combined camp for the biennial event. National volleyballers practised only for four days in the camp in Islamabad under Korean coach Kim Kyoung-Hoon. The reason was that the players had been busy featuring in the National Games.

“Although the boys did not get combined practice because of National Games, I expect the brigade will put in its best in Nepal,” Pakistan Volleyball Federation’s (PVF) chairman Chaudhry Mohammad Yaqoob told ‘The News’ on Sunday.

“India and Sri Lanka are strong sides. Sri Lanka are too strong as they recently beat Kazakhstan 3-1 in the Asian Championships while India beat Kazakhstan 3-2 in that event. Volleyball is the national sport of Sri Lanka and they have hired Cuban coaches for both men and women teams and have invested a lot in the game,” he added.

However, he was quick to add that Pakistan’s recent performances against India had been encouraging. He said the Green-shirts would have psychological edge over Indians in the six-nation event.

Pakistan have been placed in Group B with Sri Lanka and the Maldives. India, Bangladesh and hosts Nepal are in Group A.

Two top teams from each group will make it to the semi-finals which will be held on December 1. The third position game will be conducted on December 2, followed by the final on December 3.

Pakistan will begin their journey with their outing against the Maldives on November 27, followed by their clash against Sri Lanka on November 30.

Pakistan have won two gold medals in South Asian Games volleyball competitions, in 1993 in Dhaka and 1989 in Islamabad.

The Green-shirts have also won six silver medals and two bronze.

Pakistan won bronze in the 2016 edition, which was held in India.

After returning home on December 4, Pakistan team will proceed to Shanghai, China, on December 9 for a week.

“China invited Pakistan. They told us that they would provide us board and lodging but we told them that PVF does not have money to purchase tickets and they then told us that tickets would also be sent by them,” Yaqoob disclosed.

“Now we are sending the squad after SAG. China is preparing for Olympic qualifiers and has also invited a couple of other teams, including Egypt. It’s a good sign that a strong volleyball nation like China has invited Pakistan,” Yaqoob said.

He made it clear that Pakistan would not be featuring in the Olympic qualifiers which will be held in China next year. “You know for the last two or three years we have spent a lot of money and we don’t have more to support our tours unless the state backs us. So we cannot feature in the Olympic qualifiers,” Yaqoob said.

However, he was quick to add that from April next year an eight-team Pro League will be launched and that will help the players and federation to earn some money.

Squad: Abdullah, Mubashir Raza, Aimal Khan (captain), Mohammad Idrees, Mohammad Kashif Naved, Murad, Abdul Zaheer, Fahad Raza, Nasir Ali, Usman Faryad Ali, Farooq Haider, Hamid Yazman, Mohammad Usman

Officials: Kim Kyoung-Hoon (head coach), Mazhar Hussain (assistant coach), Sardar Mohammad Khan (manager). A four-member Pakistan beach volleyball team will proceed to Kathmandu on December 3 as their event begins on December 5.