May 10, 2005	Tuesday	Rabi-us-Sani 1, 1426

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ISLAMABAD, May 9: The Kazakhstan volleyball team that arrived in Islamabad on Monday is looking forward to win the five-match Test series against Pakistan. The team’s head coach, Gilyazutdinov Rafail told Dawn that they were here to win and that this series would help them warm up for the Asian Championship in September.

“Although Pakistan are a good team, still I think we can beat them because the height of our players would be an advantage,” Rafail said in halting English. The visiting team had a practice session at the Liaquat Gymnasium ahead of Tuesday’s first Test to be played at the same venue at 4.00 pm.

Pakistan captain Irfan Nawaz on the other hand was also a confident man pointing out that they had beaten this Kazakhstan side at the Asian Senior Championship in China in 2003.

“They are the best among the Central Asian states and I expect this series to be very interesting,” Irfan said just before his team began practice.

Irfan felt that Pakistan, fresh from their participation in the recent Islamic Solidarity Games, will be at an advantage during the series.

“Having competed there, the players are in the right frame of mind which will definitely help.” He said that the team’s preparations had gone off well because on return from the Islamic Games, the players competed in a departmental tournament in Sheikhupura.

With the series set to kickoff in Islamabad, the second Test is scheduled to be played in Wah on May 11 followed by matches in Peshawar (May 13), Lahore (May 15) and Karachi (May 17).