Volleyball camp to begin from May 8

KARACHI: The training camp of national senior volleyball team has been delayed for two days and now it will begin from Sunday at POF Wah to prepare for a handful of international events in the next few months, a senior official of the Pakistan Volleyball Federation (PVF) told 'The News'.

The official said that there were some issues and so it was delayed a bit and would now start on May 8.

Previously the camp was scheduled to begin on May 6. The official said that national under-20 team players who had gone on a few days off due to Eid-ul-Fitr will also re-assemble at the same venue on May 8.

This will be after seven months that the seniors will return to activity. Their last assignment was the Asian Championship held in Japan in September last year.

The seniors have ahead AVC Cup to be held in Chinese Taipei from August 7-14. It will be followed by Islamic Games to be held in the same month in Konya, Turkey. It will be followed by the Asian Games pencilled in for September 10-25 in Hangzhou, China.

As many as 24 senior players have been invited to the camp. Both senior and under-20 teams will be trained at the same time by Brazilian coach Cristiano Rodrigues Campos who was handling the under-20 team camp at the Pakistan Sports Complex, Islamabad, before Eid. The junior lot is preparing for the 21st Asian Men’s Under-20 Volleyball Championship slated to be held in Riffa, Bahrain, from August 22-29.

This camp is being shifted because there is no air-conditioned facility at the Pakistan Sports Complex, Islamabad.

Cristian Rodrigues Campos told 'The News' that they will have to work hard, especially with seniors, as they have to compete in international events in two months time.

"We will train five days a week and one day will be specified for a friendly match and one day will be for rest," Cristiano said.

"We have just a short time and it is not possible to bring many changes but still every effort will be made to bring some improvement," the coach said.

He was happy with the growth of the junior lot and said they now know the match situation and are seen as better players. As many as 18 players are in the under-20 team camp.