ISLAMABAD, Feb 9: Two-day trials concluded on Monday to select a Pakistan team which will compete in a four-nations international volleyball tournament in Iran and also play a four-matches series against the Iranian national side.
The same team will also represent the country at the 9th SAF Games to be held in the Pakistan capital from March 29 to April 7, according to the officials of Pakistan Volleyball Federation (PVF).
The following is the team: Tufail, Ehsanullah, Kashif Mansoor, Sajid Nawaz, Mazhar Hussain, Bakht Risal, Sanaullah, Muhammad Elahi, Ehsan Iqbal, Irfan Nawaz, Shahid Hussain, Tariq Waseem, Muneebullah and Zafar Iqbal.
The Al-Fajar International Volleyball Tournament will be held in the Iranian city of Tabraiz from Feb 21 while the series against Iranian national team will be played immediately afterwards.
The selected team will leave for Iran on Feb 18. Chairman of PVF, Chaudhary Muhammad Yaqub, headed the four-member selection committee which witnessed the trials.
The other members were: Mohabat Khan, Abdul Khaliq Khan and Allama Ghulam Asad while representatives of Pakistan Olympic Association and SAF Games Organizing Committee were also present.
Yaqub said on the occasion that the international exposure in Iran will provide opportunity to the Pakistani team to warm up for the SAF Games volleyball competition.
"The exposure against strong Iranian team will particularly be important since the Asian champions South Korean team may not tour Pakistan before the SAF Games owing to their league engagements at home", Yaqub said.
He said that Hristev Marinov, the new coach from Bulgaria contracted to train the Pakistani spikers for the SAF Games, is due here later this week and may accompany the team on their Iran tour. Yaqub said that up to 14 players would make the trip to Iran.
Pakistan had won gold medals at the volleyball competitions of 4th SAF Games at Islamabad in 1989 and four years later at the 6th edition at Dhaka in 1993. - APP
