KARACHI: A 23-member Pakistan softball team, led by Adil Zaman, left here for Singapore on Saturday to compete in the five-day qualifying rounds of the Asian men’s softball championship.

The team comprises 18 players and five officials.

Besides Pakistan, teams from Indonesia, Japan, Brunei, Philippines and Singapore will be competing in the qualifiers while the top three teams from the event will qualify for the Softball World Cup scheduled to be held in Canada next year.

The qualifier will be played on a single league basis and Pakistan will play their first match against the Philippines on Dec 16.

Earlier, a reception was given to the team by Administrator South Afzal Zaidi who said it is indeed an honour for the Pakistan softball team to get inivited for the qualifiers which shows that the game of softball is gaining popularity within the country quite rapidly.

He added that the DMC South will continue to patronize sports and will make all out efforts to support the players.

SFP vice-president Asif Azeem said all the players have prepared really well for the qualifiers and the team will Inshallah perform to the expectations in Singapore.

Other officials present on the occasion included Municipal Commissioner South Mohd Raeesi, SFP secretary Haider Khan Lehri and chief selector Maroof-ul-Hasan. Later, souvenirs were distributed among the softball players.

Published in Dawn December 14th , 2014