Pakistan overpower Maldives in volleyball

KARACHI: Pakistan were off to an impressive start when they defeated Maldives 3-0 in their Group B opener of the men’s volleyball slots of the 16th South Asian Games at the Nabin Bordoloi Indoor Stadium in Guwahati, India, on Friday.

Pakistan, led by spiker Naseer Ahmed, had to face tough time before clinching the first set 25-22.

In the second set, Pakistan performed much better, winning it 25-14 to double their lead. Pakistan, also featuring professional Aimal Khan, claimed the third set 25-20 to seal a comfortable win.

Pakistan, who had claimed silver medal in the 2010 Dhaka South Asian Games, will face Afghanistan in their second outing on Saturday (today).

In the other show of the group, Bangladesh overpowered Afghanistan 3-2 after a sweating affair.

After winning the first set 25-12, Bangladesh went 1-2 down, losing the next two sets 20-25, 21-25.

At this stage, the Bengalis played with discipline and won the set 31-29 to level it 2-2.

Bangladesh also got the fifth set 15-13 to edge Afghanistan.

Sri Lanka defeated Nepal 3-0 with the set scores being 25-10, 25-15 and 25-10.

Japan-based judoka Shah Hussain will arrive in Islamabad on Sunday (tomorrow) to join his squad which will leave for India on February 11.

A source in Pakistan’s contingent in India told this correspondent that the movement of the Pakistani athletes and officials was restricted. “Our movement is very restricted,” the source said.

The source said that Pakistani athletes were staying at different hotels in Guwahati and tight security arrangements had been made for them.

“Our hotel is not bad. Thick security arrangements have been made inside and outside the hotel as per requirement. The security arrangement during our players’ movement is also not bad,” the source said.

The source said that Shillong had been linked to Guwahati through a highway and it was hardly at two and a half hours drive from Guwahati, which hosts competitions in 16 disciplines. Shillong hosts contests in eight disciplines.

A source in the Pakistan Sports Board (PSB) said that its Director General Akhtar Nawaz Ganjera had left for Guwahati via Wagah border the other day.

However, the source added that Habib Shah, the other senior official of the Board, had not yet got NOC from the government.

The top officials of the ministry of Inter-Provincial Coordination (IPC) are also expected to witness the Games, being hosted by India for the third time.

The competitions were launched formally on Friday with the opening ceremony in Guwahati.

In Shillong the opening ceremony will be held on Saturday (today).

Pakistan’s contingent is going in small batches as per the schedule of respective competitions.

Bangladesh held the biennial event last time in 2010 in Dhaka where India prevailed. Pakistan ended second with 19 gold medals.