06 March 2005	Sunday	24 Muharram 1426

ISLAMABAD, March 5: A 16-strong squad, including four officials, was named on Saturday to represent Pakistan in the volleyball competitions of first-ever Islamic Solidarity Games to be held in Saudi Arabia in April.

A five-member selection committee of Pakistan Volleyball Federation (PVF), headed by its chairman Chaudhary Muhammad Yaqub, finalised the squad.

Irfan Nawaz has been appointed captain of the 12-man team which has the following other players: Muhammad Elahi, Shahid Hussain Khan, Bakht Risal, Ehsan Iqbal, Naseer Ahmed, Sanaullah Khan, Zaheer Abbas, Kashif Mansoor, Zafar Iqbal Kuriya, Sajid Nawaz, Muhammad Tariq Wasim.

Among the officials, Zafar Abbas will accompany the squad as manager while Feng Li of China will be the coach with Muhammad Ashraf to be his assistant. Najamul Hasnain will be the referee.

Besides PVF president at its head, the selection committee also included SVP Abdul Khaliq Khan, secretary Maj. (r) Muhammad Afzal, Chinese coach Feng Li and Ghulam Hussain.

Besides volleyball, Pakistan will also compete in 10 other disciplines in Saudi Arabia - athletics, swimming, basketball, football, handball, volleyball, karate, taekwondo, tennis and table tennis.

The training camps to prepare Pakistan teams are in progress here at Pakistan Sports Complex.

The Islamic Games are scheduled to be held from April 8 to 20, in four Saudi Arabian cities - Makkah Mukkarmah, Madinah Munawwara, Jeddah and Taif.

March 8 is the deadline for sending final entries.-APP