ISLAMABAD, June 6: Chairman of Pakistan Volleyball Federation (PVF), Chaudhry Muhammad Yaqub is hopeful that the new Bulgarian coach will help the national team win gold at this year's South Asian Games in Colombo.

"The immediate target for the coach is to help us re-claim the South Asian Games title and then to develop a new lot of players with an eye on the future," he told a news conference on Tuesday.

Coach Strahil Pantchev Balov, 36, previously with Al-Khaleej Club of Saudi Arabia, arrived in Islamabad last week and was impressed with the players he will be working with.

On a one-year contract, Strahil said that some of the players were as good as the Brazilians. "We have about seven to eight experienced players."

Yaqub said that the NWFP Zone Inter-club Championship which starts from June 13 Peshawar will also be contested in five other zones of Mardan, Bannu, Hazara, Kohat and Malakand.

Similarly the Punjab Zone Championship will start in Rawalpindi on July 3 followed by competitions in Faisalabad, Bahawalpur, DG Khan, Sialkot, Sahiwal, Lahore and Sargodha Zones.

These zonal competitions will be followed by Inter-Club Provincial Championships in September.

Yaqub also outlined plans of holding regional camps at atleast nine places for players who do well in the Club Championship. "I hope this augurs well for the future of Pakistan volleyball."

He disclosed that PVF was in the process of arranging a Pakistan-India series with four matches to be played on either side of the border later this year.

The PVF was also focussing on increasing the number and quality of its referees for international competitions. "At the moment we have only two international referees."

The PVF calendar of activities (national):

NWFP Zone Inter-Club Championship -Peshawar Zone June 13-14, Mardan Zone June 16-18, Bannu Zone June 23-25, Hazara Zone June 30-July 2, Kohat Zone July 7-9, Malakand Zone July 14-16.

NWFP Provincial Inter-Club Championship at Peshawar/Bunir in Šfirst week of September.

Punjab Zone Inter-Club Championship - Rawalpindi Zone July 3-4, Faisalabad Zone July 11-12, Bahawalpur Zone July 18-19, DG Khan Zone July 25-26, Sialkot Zone Aug 2-3, Sahiwal Zone Aug 8-9, Lahore Zone Aug 13-14, Sargodha Zone Aug 22-23

Punjab Provincial Inter-Club Championship at Lahore Sept 5-7

National Club Volleyball Championship in last week of Sept.

National Women's Volleyball Championship at Islamabad/Peshawar, Karachi (dates to be decided)

National Junior Men's Volleyball Championship at Karachi/Lahore/Peshawar/Islamabad (dates to be decided).

National Championship Nov 3-10.

International events: Al-Rashid International Tournament July 12-19, South Asian Games Colombo Aug 17-27, Asian Junior Men's Volleyball Championship, Iran Sept 13-21, Commonwealth Championship, India Nov, Asian Games, Doha Dec 1-15.